RELIGION 101: Introduction to Religion

Lecture Notes


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Chapter One: What is Religion? How is it Studied?
  Part One: Defining Religion
  Part Two: Studying Religion
Chapter Two: The Sacred and the Holy
  Sacred Power
  A Closer Look: The Shaman
  Rudolf Otto and Mysterium Tremendum
  Mircea Eliade: The Sacred, the Profane and Hierophanies
  Sacred Space and Time
  Paul Tillich and Ultimate Concern
Chapter Three: Sacred Symbol, Myth and Doctrine
  Religious Language and Sacred Symbol
  Religious Symbols as Bridges
  Motions and Sounds as Symbols
  Metaphor, Parable and Myth
  Theories of Myth
Chapter Four: Sacred Ritual
  Introduction to Ritual
  Rituals of Reenactment
  Transformation and Rituals of Reenactment
  "Rites of Passage
  Rites of Passage in Judaism
  Seasonal Rituals
Chapter Five: Sacred Scripture
  The Role of Scripture
  Distinctive Features of Scripture
  The Reception, Uses and Interpretation of Scripture
Chapter Six: Society and The Sacred
  Types of Religious Societies
  Protest and Change in Voluntary Religious Communities
  Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements
Chapter Seven: Deity: Concepts of the Divine and Ultimate Reality
  Polytheism
  Dualism
  Pantheism and Monism
  Monotheism
Chapter Eight: Cosmogony: Origins of the Natural and Social Order
  Types of Cosmogonies
  The Enuma Elish
Chapter Nine: Anthropology: The Human Problem
  Part One: Stoicism and Christianity
  Part Two: Buddhism and Confucianism
Chapter Ten: Theodicy: Encountering Evil
  Part One: Making sense of suffering
  Part Two: Monotheism and Theodicy
Chapter Eleven: Ethics: Patterns of Moral Behavior
  Virtues and Obligations; Sources of Moral Authority
  Charismatic Leadership
  An Ethics of Divine Command
Chapter Twelve: Soteriology: Ways and Goals of Salvation
  The Way of Faith and the Way of Devotion
  The Way of Action and the Way of Meditation