Religious Studies   

In a well-known Bible story, Abraham almost sacrifices his son Isaac. This course will look at this text from five different angles: midrash, which are stories about the stories in the Bible that help to explain them; paintings of the scene by different artists; the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling; the ways modern poets have used the imagery of this story in their work; and the viewpoint of Sarah, Abraham’s wife and Isaac’s mother. Advance reading is not required; all source materials will be provided during class.

In this course, world religions including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, among others, will be examined through comparison. In examining the similarities and differences, this course focuses on theological beliefs and religious practices. The overarching goal of the course is to develop competence in the basic ideologies and rituals of global religious traditions and recognize the merits of interfaith study and dialogue.

This course examines issues in applying philosophical investigation techniques to questions in Judeo-Christian and Asian religious traditions. Topics include reasoning for and against God's existence, various conceptions of the Supreme Being(s), the problem of evil, the problem of truth and religious language, the question of an afterlife, an inquiry into the nature of faith and divine revelation, and the question of religious experience.