Religion Course: World Religions

Religion and spirituality. Learn about systems of faith and worship.

Join us for a crash course on religion. What is religion and why is it important? Is it about God? What is God, and does God exist? How should we study religion? Learn about how to grapple with such questions, and learn about some of the major religions of the world as well. From scientific, philosophical, historical, and sociological perspectives, this course introduces these themes, and covers several ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ religious traditions.

Aims

Learn to confidently describe and discuss key concepts in religion. This course aims to introduce diverse ideas about religion and religious ideas.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• explain what religion is
• describe God and other gods
• debate on the existence of God and other gods, and miraculous occurrences
• recall information on multiple aspects of major religious traditions
• relate religious ideas and ideas about religion to contemporary issues
• apply these concepts to your personal lives.

Content

Session 1: Religion and God/s

• Definitions of religion
• Definitions of God/s
• Arguments about God’s existence
• Judging miraculous claims
• Studying religion

Session 2: Zoroastrianism and Judaism

• Zoroastrianism
• Early 'Judaism'
• Second Temple and later Judaism/s

Session 3: Christianity

• The Biblical Jesus
• The mainstream Historical Jesus and debates over historicity
• Early, Medieval, and Contemporary Christianities

Session 4: Islam

• Muhammad and early Islam
• The growth of Islam
• Contemporary issues such as terrorism, nationalism, immigration, and Trump

Session 5: Chinese Religion

• Chinese Folk Religion
• Confucianism
• Daoism

Session 6: Indian Religion

• 'Hinduism'
• Jainism
• Buddhism
• Sikhism
• The diversity of Indian and global divine models

Intended audience

Anyone with a general interest in religion and concepts of the divine.

Prerequisites

None

Delivery style

• Lecture/seminar
• Six weekly sessions of two hours per week