Centre for Continuing Education

Religion and spirituality

Religion and spirituality

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

A religion is an organised collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence. Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred histories that are intended to explain the meaning of life and/or to explain the origin of life or the Universe. From their beliefs about the cosmos and human nature, people derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle. On the other hand, a spiritual system is focused on self-knowledge, and framed in a context of energy and consciousness. Spirituality is not about beliefs but about practices, specifically designed to develop a deeper understanding of ‘the self’. Learn about beliefs, cultural systems, and world views the smart way with religion and spirituality courses at CCE, The University of Sydney.

Art and Philosophy of the Spirit Course

Religion and spirituality. Learn about systems of faith and worship. Our contemporary definition of ‘spirit’ is based on the convergence of three streams of knowledge: the impact of Eastern spiritual systems on the West in the 19th century and the parallel re-emergence of the Western stream of esoteric knowledge; followed by a 20th century global culture shaped by Internet technology. In separating the spiritual from the religious, this course investigates a global, culturally... [More]
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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’... [More]
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Religion Course: Does God Exist?

Religion and spirituality. Learn about systems of faith and worship. Join us for a day-long workshop on the existence of God. Does God exist? How should we decide? And what is God anyway? Learn about the pros and cons for the best arguments for and against God’s existence, and learn about how debates on the topic do and should occur. We shall also tackle the false dichotomy, which indicates that either theism or naturalism obtains, introducing key models from outside the mainstream... [More]
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Religion Course: Who Was Jesus?

Religion and spirituality. Learn about systems of faith and worship. Join us for a day-long workshop on Jesus. What are the Christian views? What are the secular views? And did he even exist? Learn about the many ways people in the past and today have thought about Jesus, and learn about how the debate over Jesus' very existence is becoming more mainstream and academic. We shall also expose the false dichotomy that people must be sure that Jesus either did or did not exist,... [More]
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Religious History Course: The Temple in Jerusalem

History. See the future. It’s in the past. This course examines the biblical, non-biblical and archaeological records of the First, Second and apocalyptic Third Temples in Jerusalem. The First and Second Temples were structures located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. They functioned as the religious, cultural and political centre of ancient Israelite religion. The First Temple, built by King Solomon,... [More]
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Philosophy Course: Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy. Study the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. This course on the philosophy of religion examines religious experience while borrowing from different schools of thought, including psychology, anthropology, sociology, phenomenology and political theory. Religion is central to the personal lives of many people. It is integrated in the cultural heritage of every people, and understanding it is crucial to understanding the human condition. We will delve... [More]
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