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RELIGIOUS STUDIES critical thinking in India and highlighting, where appropriate, their significant parallels to Western philosophical thought. 3 credits. Rlst 255. RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES ON Human Relationships This course will examine the many ways Christianity has interpreted the dynamics of marriage and family. The course will begin with a historical survey of marriage and family and then move to contemporary questions related to family life and marriage. The course will address the themes of covenant, responsibility, community, sacramentality, violence, and divorce. 3 credits. Rlst 260. CATHOLIC SYMBOLS AND SACRAMENTS This course will be an exploration into the richness and complexity of Catholic ideas and experience. We will examine elements of the tradition’s religious practice, including symbols, rituals, narratives and community. Using a variety of approaches (historical, theological, literary and cultural), we will address critical questions about Catholic life. 3 credits. Rlst 270. WOMEN AND SCRIPTURE An exploration of the biblical texts dealing with the themes relating to women–their presence and neglect, images and roles. The course will study the contributions, challenges and significance of women in Scripture with particular concern for contemporary interpretations by Jewish and Christian women. 3 credits. Rlst 275. LIBERATION,RELIGION AND SOCIETY This course examines the origin and growth of liberation theologies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and the United States. Students will be introduced to the work of major liberation theologians and the diverse contexts in which liberation theologies are done. The critical roles they play within church, culture, and society will also be considered. 3 credits. Rlst 280. PROPHETIC TRADITIONS While our primary focus will be an examination of the prophetic worldviews found in Jewish and Christian Scriptures, we will continue our exploration into post-biblical texts that reconfigure these biblical prophetic traditions. Issues of authority, social justice, exclusivity, and violence will be explored. 3 credits. Rlst 285. WORLD RELIGIONS An inquiry into the history of religions by focusing on several world religious traditions and their claims about Ultimate Reality, the purpose of human life, the meaning of suffering and alienation, and ethical conduct. A focus is on appreciating religion as a significant and enduring form of human selfunderstanding by examining religious experiences and symbols. 3 credits.
Rlst 290. WISDOM LITERATURE This course examines the diverse wisdom traditions found in Jewish and Christian sacred texts. The concern to teach communities and individuals how to live a life of righteousness with God’s creation unifies these diverse traditions. In addition to examining the development of various wisdom ideologies, we will investigate wisdom’s relationship to apocalyptic thought in the Hellenistic era. Critical reflection on the blending of these worldviews will lead us to a discussion about the ethics of reading within faith communities. 3 credits. Rlst 300. SCIENCE AND RELIGION This course will examine the status of truth claims, specifically religious truth and scientific truth. The differing methods, criteria, and presuppositions utilized in the “hard sciences” and religious studies will be examined. Students will confront the problem of maintaining faith within the largely scientific paradigm accepted within higher education. Prerequisite: Rlst 100. 3 credits. Rlst 310. RELIGION, MODERNITY AND POSTMODERNITY An analysis of the intellectual challenges to religious belief since the Enlightenment to the present day with a special emphasis on postmodern philosophy and the theological responses to the postmodern critique. 3 credits. Rlst 320. AMERICAN RELIGIOUS THOUGHT An historical survey of the sources and traditions of American religious thought with special regard for the 19th and 20th centuries; a critical examination of representative religious thinkers and theologians; a study of the role of religion in American life and society. 3 credits. Rlst 330. HINDUISM An historical and thematic introduction to Hinduism which will examine its array of beliefs and morals, myths and rituals, philosophies and poetry, gods and goddesses. Methodological questions and critical approaches to the academic study of religion will also be considered. 3 credits. Rlst 345/Phil 345 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION This course investigates various issues and arguments within philosophy of religion, including: the problem of evil, arguments for God’s existence, the concept of religious experience, divine omniscience and omnipotence, religious language, miracles, life after death, and the justification of religious belief. 3 credits. Rlst 360. BUDDHISM An introduction to the various world views encompassed within the general rubric of Buddhism. This course surveys religious, philosophical and ritual developments in the history of Buddhism, beginning in the Indian context and extending throughout Asia
RELIGIOUS STUDIES and even into the West. The nature of reality, human community, suffering and liberation in various versions of Buddhism will be primary themes for study. 3 credits. Rlst 370. ISLAM AstudyoftheoriginsanddevelopmentofIslam,beginning from the prophet Muhammad to the contemporary era. Special consideration of Islam’s religious, social, and philosophical developments, the diversity within Islam, and the interface of Islam as it penetrated into cultures beyond the Arabian peninsula. 3 credits. Rlst 375. RELIGION AND THE ENVIRONMENT Environmental issues provide challenging scenarios today throughout the world. Religious conceptions and understandings of environmental realities (such as the value of “nature”) are central to these problems and solutions. This course offers a comparative religious examination of basic issues and works in the field of environmental ethics. We will examine key works and ideas pertaining to environmental ethics from a variety of religious traditions, including: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Native American religions. 3 credits. Rlst 380. CHRISTOLOGY An examination of the development of images, concepts, and doctrines about Jesus of Nazareth. It moves chronologically from New Testament materials to contemporary theological discussions about the person and message of Jesus and their significance for the post-modern world. 3 credits. Rlst 385. Poetry of the Sacred A study of poetry as an expression of and a vehicle for awakening in the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. Exploring notions of the sacred and theological anthropology, this course examines the context, content, and goals of poetry self-reflexively located in faith and spiritual traditions. Poetry of Hindu bhakti traditions, Sufism, Zen, and Christian mysticism would be central, thought not exclusive, to this course. 3 credits. Rlst 405. SOCIAL ETHICS This course examines contemporary social issues and encourages critical reflection on these issues within a wide variety of religious and philosophical ethical frameworks. Relevant social issues may include: just war theory and pacifism, capital punishment, human sexuality, advancements in technology, environmental issues, biomedical issues, professional ethics, and economic issues in developing nations. 3 credits. Rlst/Phil 420. MYSTICISM A study of the significance of mystical experience in the world’s religions. What is the meaning of particularly vivid, intense religious experiences reported by sages, saints, and seers in the faith traditions of the world? This course will examine classic analyses of mysticism, the nature, context, and conditions of mystical experience, the ‘perennial philosophy,’ the scope
2011-2012 Mercyhurst College Course Catalog • www.mercyhurst.edu