Religious Studies
Site Contents
Courses
SPRING 2010 OFFERINGS
REL 20400: Introduction to Christian Theology
CRN: 43464
Thomas Ryba
MWF 2:30-3:20
This course is an introductory survey of the goals and aims of theology in the Christian tradition. Focus is on the content of Christian theology, its methodological presuppositions and principles of development.
REL 23000: Religions of the East
Meets with PHIL 33000
CRN: 38202
Donald Mitchell
MWF 10:30-11:20
A study of the history, teachings, and present institutions of the religions of India, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. This will include Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Zoroastrianism.
REL 23100: Religions of the West
Meets with PHIL 33100
CRN: 38203
Thomas Ryba
MWF 4:30-5:20
The purpose of this course is to provide a systematic survey of those religions variously described, in the West, as ‘Western Religions’ or ‘Religions of the West.’ Immediately, a problem arises because the adjective, ‘Western,’ is questionable. The descriptions ‘Western’ or ‘of the West’ have been understood as designating a problematic geo-cultural location—but also a homogeneous style of religious thought because of their common origins as Abrahamic monotheisms. Contemporary scholars of religion, and indigenous believers, often contest this imputed homogeneity and have pointed to the incredible complexity and fluidity of these traditions, characteristics which resist simplistic classification. Well aware of the challenges such descriptions present, we, in this course, will engage in a comparative study of the systems of belief, thought, and practice traditionally termed ‘Western Religions’ by Western scholars of religions. This will be accomplished through a series of readings on these systems’ histories, philosophies and scriptures. The approach adopted in this course is phenomenological and comparative. Adopting the phenomenological method in the academic study of religion means that we shall try to study these religions objectively and empathetically. Adopting the comparative method in the academic study of religion means that we shall try to compare and contrast the features of these religions with the intent of observing similarities, dissimilarities and regularities, where meaningful points of comparison occur. The phenomenological method (properly applied) gives us access to a religion’s rationale; the comparative method (properly applied) gives us access to the rationale of Religion. The systems of belief, thought and practice which will be studied and compared in this course are: (1) the Judaic tradition, (2) the Christian tradition, and (3) the Islamic tradition. This survey and comparison will take place according to a fixed set of categories. Surveyed for each of these traditions will be: (a) its worldview, (b) its scriptures, (c) its hierology, (d) its cosmology, (e) its anthropology, (f) its soteriology, and (g) its most important schools of thought (or forms of scholasticism). Prerequisites: None. Course requirements: three objective examinations; six optional extra-credit assignments. This course will be offered for an honors option.
REL 31800: The Bible and Its Early Interpreters
CRN: 40885
Stuart Robertson
TTH 3:00-4:15
This course will start with observation of the development of early themes in later parts of the Hebrew Bible and proceed to the on-going influence of these themes in Jewish literature outside the Hebrew canon (apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, tagums, midrash, Josephus, Philo, and other Hellenistic Jewish authors), as well as pagan literature of this era and in early Christian literature, particularly the New Testament.
REL 45000: Christian Ethics
CRN: 43465
Thomas Ryba
T 7:00-9:50
The course explores the historical development of Christian moral theology, from pre-Christian times to the present. It includes a study of Biblical moral conceptions, patristic, medieval, Enlightenment, modern, and contemporary understandings of Christian ethics.
ENGL 26400: The Bible As Literature
CRN: 18896
Dorothy Deering
MWF 11:30-12:20
My section of English 264 will read selected portions of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Apocrypha. The course will entail a close study of a variety of literary forms and techniques: the structure of historical and biographical narratives (the Garden of Eden, the Exodus from Egypt, the Curcifixion/Resurrection), development of plot and character (in the stories of Abraham, David, Elijah, Jesus), and growth of prophetic and poetic styles and traditions (Isaiah, Micah, Job, Psalms), and the distinctive features of wisdome (proverbs, parables), and apocalyptic literature (Daniel, Revelation). Students will write 10-12 one page papers. There will be no tests or final exam. Students will participate weekly in team discussions on the reading.
ENGL 46200: The Bible As Literature: Old Testament
CRN: 33670
Sandor Goodhart
TTH 3:00-4:15
A study of Hebrew Scripture. In this course we will read closely selections from Hebrew Scripture - the Pentateuch (the five Books of Moses), the books of the Prophets, and the Holy Writings - with the goal of understanding these texts within the Rabbinical tradition of Biblical interpretation. All texts will be examined in English and no knowledge of the Hebrew language (however desireable) will be expected. There will be no exams but students will keep a journal and write weekly informal papers and one final longer paper. Classes will proceed by paying repeated close attention to the kinds of matters one would consider in any advanced course on literary reading.
HIST 31800: A History of the Christian Church & the Expansion of Christianity II
CRN: 20283
Deborah Fleetham
TTH 4:30-5:45
Continuation of HIST 31700. The Reformation, the major developments in Christianity, and the churches in the modern world.
HIST 48502: Religion & Politics in 20th Century America
CRN: 42501
Darren Dochuk
TTH 10:30-11:45
HIST 49200-002: Post-Communist Jewish Identities
CRN: 32839
Rebekah Klein-Pejšová
TTH 9:00-10:15
PHIL 20600: Philosophy of Religion
CRN: 24000
Paul Draper
TTH 9:30-10:20
W 8:30-9:20 24001
W 9:30-10:20 24002
W 10:30-11:20 24003
W 11:30-12:20 24004
W 12:30-1:20 24005
W 1:30-2:20 24006
This course will compare two major worldviews: theism and naturalism. According to theism, the natural world was created by a perfect supernatural person (God). According to naturalism, the natural world is a closed system—in other words, there are no supernatural entities. The primary goal of this course will be to investigate the claims made by each of these two worldviews and to critically examine the evidence and arguments for and against them.
PHIL 21900: Introduction to Existentialism
CRN: 24008
Jacqueline Marina
TTH 10:30-11:45
This course will be an exploration of the existentialist movement through a careful analysis of both the philosophical and literary works of some of its most prominent expositors. Readings will include Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. Requirements will be a midterm, a final, one short 5-7 page paper and a class presentation.
PHIL 33000: Religions of the East
Meets with REL 23000
CRN: 24022
Donald Mitchell
MWF 10:30-11:20
A study of the history, teachings, and present institutions of the religions of India, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. This will include Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Zoroastrianism.
PHIL 33100: Religions of the West
Meets with REL 23100
CRN: 32968
Thomas Ryba
MWF 4:30-5:20
The purpose of this course is to provide a systematic survey of those religions variously described, in the West, as ‘Western Religions’ or ‘Religions of the West.’ Immediately, a problem arises because the adjective, ‘Western,’ is questionable. The descriptions ‘Western’ or ‘of the West’ have been understood as designating a problematic geo-cultural location—but also a homogeneous style of religious thought because of their common origins as Abrahamic monotheisms. Contemporary scholars of religion, and indigenous believers, often contest this imputed homogeneity and have pointed to the incredible complexity and fluidity of these traditions, characteristics which resist simplistic classification. Well aware of the challenges such descriptions present, we, in this course, will engage in a comparative study of the systems of belief, thought, and practice traditionally termed ‘Western Religions’ by Western scholars of religions. This will be accomplished through a series of readings on these systems’ histories, philosophies and scriptures. The approach adopted in this course is phenomenological and comparative. Adopting the phenomenological method in the academic study of religion means that we shall try to study these religions objectively and empathetically. Adopting the comparative method in the academic study of religion means that we shall try to compare and contrast the features of these religions with the intent of observing similarities, dissimilarities and regularities, where meaningful points of comparison occur. The phenomenological method (properly applied) gives us access to a religion’s rationale; the comparative method (properly applied) gives us access to the rationale of Religion. The systems of belief, thought and practice which will be studied and compared in this course are: (1) the Judaic tradition, (2) the Christian tradition, and (3) the Islamic tradition. This survey and comparison will take place according to a fixed set of categories. Surveyed for each of these traditions will be: (a) its worldview, (b) its scriptures, (c) its hierology, (d) its cosmology, (e) its anthropology, (f) its soteriology, and (g) its most important schools of thought (or forms of scholasticism). Prerequisites: None. Course requirements: three objective examinations; six optional extra-credit assignments. This course will be offered for an honors option.
PHIL 40200: Medieval Christian Thought
CRN: 42428
Jeffrey Brower
TTH 1:30-2:45
A study of some of the main trends and major figures of the Christian Middle Ages (roughly 400-1400 A.D.). Emphasis will be on the way thinkers from this period make use of philosophy in theology, especially in developing their views about such issues as the nature and existence of God, the nature and use of religious language, and specifically Christian doctrines such as Trinity, Incarnation, and Atonement. Some attention will also be given to the way in which medieval thinkers attempted to build on developments in the early church, especially those of the so-called Patristics. Readings (in English translation) may include Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Scotus, and Ockham.
PHIL 50500: Islamic & Jewish Philosophy & the Classical Tradition
CRN: 43017
Daniel Frank
M 2:30-5:20
Often medieval philosophy is presented in its Christian guise alone, giving the impression that the medieval philosophical tradition, influenced by the great thinkers of Greek antiquity, is exclusively a Latin tradition, with no substantive contribution by those who wrote in Arabic and Hebrew. We shall revise this view. Our focus will be primarily on the 10th-12th centuries, a roughly two-hundred-year period that is a high point in medieval Islamic and Jewish philosophy. Amongst philosophers to be studied are, on the Islamic side, Farabi, Ghazali, Ibn Tufayl, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and, on the Jewish side, Saadia, Maimonides, and Gersonides (1288-1344), whose critique of Maimonides in the 14th century will round out our survey. Topics in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology, cosmology, philosophical psychology, philosophy of law, and moral and political philosophy are all discussed with considerable subtlety by the thinkers we shall read. A background in Greek philosophy will be helpful and is assumed. Course requirements include class presentations and a seminar paper due at term's end.
CRNS: 27402; 27405
TBA
MWF 10:30-11:20
MWF 12:30-1:20
Examines the social dimensions of religion in American life; religion in American culture; social profiles of America's religious groups, trends in individual commitment; and religion's impact on American life.
FALL 2009 OFFERINGS
REL 20000: Introduction to the Study of Religion
CRN: 36414
Daniel Smith
TTH 3:00-4:15
This course will introduce students to the academic study of religion through an exploration of various methodologies available for a critical, reflective investigation of the study of religion.
REL 20300: Theology of Paul
CRN: 37967
Thomas Ryba
MWF 10:30-11:20
A critical examination of the Pauline and Deutero-Pauline epistles, the book of Acts, and other first century texts associated with Paul of Tarsus. Students will be introduced to problems and methods in the interpretation of ancient texts.
REL 23000: Religions of the East
CRN: 28171
Meets with PHIL 33000
Donald Mitchell
MWF 2:30-3:20
A study of the history, teachings, and present institutions of the religions of India, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. This will include Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Zoroastrianism.
REL 23100: Religions of the West
CRN: 28172
Meets with PHIL 33100
Thomas Ryba
MWF 12:30-1:20
A comparative study of the origins, institutions, and theologies of the three major Western religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
REL 31700: Ancient Judaism & Early Christianity
CRN: 28173
Stuart Robertson
TTH 4:30-5:45
This course is a study of the emergence of Judaism and the rise of Christianity out of roots in the history of ancient Israel. This will include noticing the effects of Greek culture, evidence of anti-Semitism and admiration of the Jews, conversion in a setting of religious pluralism, and the development of Jewish and Christian self-definition in this climate.
HIST 31700: History of the Christian Church I
CRN: 21318
Deborah Fleetham
TTH 4:30-5:45
The Christian Church shaped the West, and continues to influence it profoundly. Born within the ancient Roman Empire, Christianity survives in diverse forms throughout the world: the Church is arguably the most influential and long-lived institution in world history. Tracing the Church’s evolution from its foundations to the fourteenth century, History 317 will concentrate on five interlocking themes: 1) the Christianization of the Roman Empire and of the Germanic peoples; 2) the hierarchical structure and governance of the Church; 3) the relations between the Church and various monarchies; 4) the rise, triumph, and decline of papal authority; and 5) the principal movements aiming at the reform of the Church. Until about 600 CE, the course concerns the Church throughout the Mediterranean world. Thereafter, it concentrates on the Latin Church in Western Europe, devoting little attention to the Greek, Oriental, or Slavic churches.
HIST 49200-004: Growing up Confucian
CRN: 36039
Juan Wang
MWF 2:30-3:20
PHIL 20600: Philosophy of Religion
CRN: 25250
Michael Bergmann
TTH 2:30-3:20
2 W 8:30-9:20
3 W 9:30-10:20
4 W 10:30-11:20
5 W 11:30-12:20
6 W 12:30-1:20
7 W 1:30-2:20
This course will compare two major worldviews: theism and naturalism. According to theism, the natural world was created by a perfect supernatural person (God). According to naturalism, the natural world is a closed system—in other words, there are no supernatural entities. The primary goal of this course will be to investigate the claims made by each of these two worldviews and to critically examine the evidence and arguments for and against them.
PHIL 33000/H: Religions of the East
Meets with REL 23000
CRN: 25269
Donald Mitchell
MWF 2:30-3:20
This course will introduce the major religious beliefs, ideals, practies and experiences of five major Eastern religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Shinto. In the context of an historical survey, we will focus on their concepts of (1) the nature of Ultimate Reality, (2) the human person, (3) the world, and (4) the meaning of life. There will be two midterm exams and one final (not comprehensive).
PHIL 33100: Religions of the West
Meets with REL 23100
CRN: 25272
Thomas Ryba
MWF 12:30-1:20
The purpose of this course is to provide a systematic survey of those religions variously described, in the West, as ‘Western Religions’ or ‘Religions of the West.’ Immediately, a problem arises because the adjective, ‘Western,’ is questionable. The descriptions ‘Western’ or ‘of the West’ have been understood as designating a problematic geo-cultural location—but also a homogeneous style of religious thought because of their common origins as Abrahamic monotheisms. Contemporary scholars of religion, and indigenous believers, often contest this imputed homogeneity and have pointed to the incredible complexity and fluidity of these traditions, characteristics which resist simplistic classification. Well aware of the challenges such descriptions present, we, in this course, will engage in a comparative study of the systems of belief, thought, and practice traditionally termed ‘Western Religions’ by Western scholars of religions. This will be accomplished through a series of readings on these systems’ histories, philosophies and scriptures. The approach adopted in this course is phenomenological and comparative. Adopting the phenomenological method in the academic study of religion means that we shall try to study these religions objectively and empathetically. Adopting the comparative method in the academic study of religion means that we shall try to compare and contrast the features of these religions with the intent of observing similarities, dissimilarities and regularities, where meaningful points of comparison occur. The phenomenological method (properly applied) gives us access to a religion’s rationale; the comparative method (properly applied) gives us access to the rationale of Religion. The systems of belief, thought and practice which will be studied and compared in this course are: (1) the Judaic tradition, (2) the Christian tradition, and (3) the Islamic tradition. This survey and comparison will take place according to a fixed set of categories. Surveyed for each of these traditions will be: (a) its worldview, (b) its scriptures, (c) its hierology, (d) its cosmology, (e) its anthropology, (f) its soteriology, and (g) its most important schools of thought (or forms of scholasticism). Prerequisites: None. Course requirements: three objective examinations; six optional extra-credit assignments. This course will be offered for an honors option.
PHIL 40600: Intermediate Philosophy of Religion
CRN: 36418
Paul Draper
TTH 10:30-11:45
This course examines the religious philosophies of Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) and John Hick (1922-present). Otto was very interested in a particular sort of religious experience that he called “numinous feeling.” Students in this course will study Otto’s description of these experiences and his views about the conditions that evoke them. Students will also examine the issue of whether these experiences are cross-cultural and perceptual, and, if so, whether it is unreasonable to dismiss them all as delusory. One of Hick’s major concerns is the problem of religious diversity: given the great diversity of religious beliefs, practices, and experiences in the world, should one reject all religions, reject all but one, or search for and accept some kernel of truth shared by them all? This course will compare Otto’s and Hick’s answers to this question in light 11 of their different views about religious experience.
PHIL 43000: Modern Religious Thought
CRN: 36419
Jacqueline Marina
TTH 3:00-4:15
This course will focus on one of the main problems shaping modern European religious thought: the sharp divide between a realm of contingent empirical "facts" (understood in terms of a science increasingly able to explain nature and history through mechanistic principles and laws immanent to the realm of nature itself) and the realm of human value. The problem will be explored as it and attempts to resolve it found expression in the works of Locke, Hume, Lessing, Kant, and Kierkegaard. Readings will be geared to an appreciation of two issues stemming from this larger problematic: a) the broader challenge that a naturalistic understanding of the world poses to theism and any attempts towards transcendence and b) the specifically theological problem faced by Christianity as a positive religion, the fulcrum of which is a historical event (the life and death of Jesus Christ), itself the content of revelation, when history is understood as a realm of simply contingent and objectively discoverable facts.
SOC 36700: Religion in America
CRNS: 28832; 28834
Fengang Yang
Div. 1 TTH 3:00-4:15
Div. 3 TTH 12:00-1:15
Examines the social dimensions of religion in American life; religion in American culture; social profiles of America's religious groups, trends in individual religious commitment; and religion's impact on American life.
The following courses are Notre Dame Theology classes offered at St. Thomas Aquinas Center. Courses may be taken for UND or Purdue credit. Contact Dr. Thomas Ryba @ 743-4652 (or methexis@sttoms-purdue.org for more information or to register.
PHIL 59000/REL 45100/UND Theology 421/532: Christology
Who was Jesus Christ? What was his mission? What does it mean when Christians affirm that he was both God and man? Jesus Christ's historical and ontological identity is at the basis of any understanding of Christianity or Christian theology. Without an understanding of this identity, the Christian tradition is inscrutable. Theologically, Jesus' identity has necessary linkages to all the divisions of theology but especially to the Christian doctrine of God, anthropology, soteriology, sacramentology, and spirituality. Although the Trinity is rightly termed the central doctrine of the Christian tradition, Christians believe that Jesus Christ, in his message and person, was the primary revelation of this tri-personal God. Therefore, according to the order of revelation, Christology precedes Trinitology. Some systematic theologies mirror this according to the principle that the modus docendi (way something is taught) should follow the modus inveniendi (the way something is discovered). One might further say that most Trinitological doctrines stand or fall on the basis of how well their foundations are constructed in Christology.
A. Purpose of this course: In this course, we will examine the historical development of Christology from the age of the New Testament to the late 20th/early 21st century. Particular emphasis will be placed on the New Testament data and on conciliar dogmatic formulations in their historical settings, especially as these have determined the course of theological development. Issues addressed will include: the nature of the hypostatic union, the consciousness of Jesus Christ, the necessity of the Incarnation, the works of Jesus Christ, the suffering of Jesus Christ, the necessity of the atonement, etc. Also examined will be some notable contemporary interpretations of Christology such as those of Bultmann, Rahner, Lonergan, Schillebeeckx, Pannenberg, Kasper, Marion, et al., especially as these have expanded the understanding of Jesus Christ at the dawn of the 21st century.
B. Course content: Lectures and course content will cover: (1) Methodologicval considerations in the study of Christology, (2) New Testament Christological formulations and the problem of the quest for the historical Jesus, (3) very early Jewish-Christian, Latin-Christian and Greek-Christian Christologies, including Gnostic Christological developments, (4) the development of Christological thought in response to the heresies of the Patristic period, (5) the Medieval development of Christology with special emphasis on the thought of Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas, (6) the development of Christology between the Reformation and the early modern period, and (7) modern and post-modern Christological thought, including readings from major 20th century theologians. This survey of doctrinal development will emphasize both the development of Christology as correlative to the development of philosophical anthropology as well as the continuous relevance of the various Christological formulations.
Prerequisites: One Religious Studies or Philosophy course or permission of instructor.
Course Requirements: One take-home mid-term; one expository presentation, one take-home final.
PHIL 59000/REL 59000/UND Theology 497: Directed Reading in Theology
This course provides an opportunity for students to explore individually tailored research topics and projects. The emphasis is upon independence, initiative and creativity within limits agreed upon by instructor and student. Students must meet with Dr. Ryba before the end of the second week of class to begin the development of a bibliography and to set regular meeting dates. If two or more students wish to work on joint interests, seminar-style meetings can be arranged. Topics in the past have included: readings in Protestant and Roman Catholic history, business ethics from a Christian perspective, Christianity and non-Christian religions and changing forms of the ministry in the Church. Possible topics for the future are open but subject to approval by the instructor. This is an opportunity for students to design their own courses.
Prerequisites: One (or more) philosophy or theology course(s) or professor's approval.
Course Requirements: Bi-weekly meetings, journal of reflections, annotated bibliography and major (20+ pp) paper.