Spring 2010

What is religion?

Christian meaning, modern interpretations and controversies, new challenges.

Instructor:                  Prof. Ilaria Morali

                                    E-mail: ilmorali@alice.it

Course:                       Monday/Wednesday 2:20-3:35

Office:                                    (by appointment).

Knowledge Area:      Theological and Religious Studies Knowledge

Course Short presentation

The course introduces students to the current state of the debate on religions by examining the historical development of the notion of religion. Various factors have contributed to the prodigious development of the conversation in recent decades. Our ability to understand and engage in the conversation at present is in direct proportion to our knowledge of the history of the development of the notion of religion. We shall therefore consider pre-Christian, Christian, modern and contemporary approaches to the question, “What is religion?”

Analytic Description

Today the debate about ‘Religion’  is increasing for many reasons: new sociological phenomena (e.g. the double or multiple  belonging), terrorist attacks (e.g. Sept. 11, 2001), the need for real tolerance in many countries, the crisis of the traditional and historical forms of the religions, the ‘new religions’, and also the philosophical rejection of religion in itself and on the contrary the return of the religions, interreligious dialogue in different contexts. The recent funeral of Michael Jackson was a ‘religious rite’ where very often the name of God, Christ, the word ‘religion’ was pronounced: in what sense? What is the feeling and the idea of religion among young people? Among “average” people? Is ‘religion’ at an end, as several academic authors argue, or is religion resurgent, as other academics maintain? With regard to the recent or present controversial interpretations of this concept, many Catholic thinkers   have offered (and continue to offer) important contributions in light of modern approaches and of Christian sources. Many people ask "Why the Church?" as a response to those who argue: 'I believe in God, I just don't believe in any organized religion'.

Emphasis

The course will be focusing on the debate about the meaning of religion (in the past and in the present in the light of key historical events).  To grasp the different nuances of the present debate it is necessary to know also in its basic steps the development of the interpretation of religion: classical interpretation of the notion (Latin/Greek approach), patristic and medieval views (religion as personal relationship), the challenging new approaches in the renaissance (after the fall of Constantinople and the discovery of the New World and Chinese religiosity), the Enlightenment, Atheism etc.

To put the students in the possession of the basic knowledges and elements to judge the present different opinions and to share with others and justify their own opinions; but also to know the catholic approach to this difficult question to evaluate the Christian purpose.

Skills (Critical Thinking)

At the end of semester the student should be able to

1. Contextualize the different opinions and their basic rationales by placing them in the proper light, with a correct speculative method of analysis.

2. Indicate the relationship between several opinions/interpretations of religion and particular historical events which strongly influenced the history of Christianity, the development of ideas,  Western culture, the relationship between different world religions.

3. Elaborate a critical approach to the various questions and to the texts proposed by the professor.

4. Establish a critical view of the past, by starting from the questions and the experiences of the present times.

5. Engage a dialectic confrontation with different opinions and interpretations of the other students.

6. Evaluate the weight of the ‘emotional’ approach concerning the religious experience, the place and the role of the media forming the current and common opinions about Christianity, Catholicism, the Catholic Church, interreligious dialogue; 6(a) evaluate the influence of sociological and geo-political phenomena in the understanding of the traditional Religions, the place of the personal ethical conception in the acceptance or rejection of Catholicism.

7. Compare several aspects of the American debate on religion/s with the European discussion in the past and in present time.

8. Know the contribution of the Christian tradition to the understanding of the authentic nature of the Religion.

Course requirements

The quality of the course depends not only on the contents proposed by the professor, but much more on the intensity of the personal engagement of the student, who contributes with his experience, his background and intellectual dynamism to the ‘life’ of the course.

Therefore, regular presence and active participation are strongly requested, as the coursework will consist, inter alia, of lectures, commentaries on the readings, and class discussions.

Depending upon the topic(s) of a particular day, reading assignments will be either anticipated or  successive, of an article/chapter/document/abstract taken from the anthology of texts or from the list of books I indicate. I emphasize the importance of private study, which is necessary for class preparation and for deeper reflection on the lectures, as well as for developing the ability to participate in and contribute actively to class discussions.

Attendance policy

Unexcused absences are not accepted. If the student, for important reasons, (with the permission of the dean), has to be absent, I would like to be advertised beforehand. With three (3) unexcused absences the student loses the right to take the exam and the grade drops.

Course evaluation

Regular presence/personal engagement                           30 %

Participation in class discussion/assignments                  30 %

Final exam                                                                          25 %  

Final paper                                                                          15 %

Bibliography

The anthology of text/documents/abstracts of books will be available for the students at the beginning of the course (to be photocopied). This reader is the basic ‘book’ for the lectures and it is required for the exam.

Among the ‘suggested books’, two, freely chosen with my final approval, are required for the exam.

Suggested books

St.Augustine, The City of God against the Pagans. Edited and translated by R. W. Dyson. Cambridge University Press, 1998.

St. Augustine, Of true religion, Louis O. Mink Introduction), and J.H.S. Burleigh (translator) Regnery Gateway Inc.,U.S. Mar 1991.

J. Bodin, Colloquium of the Seven About Secrets of the Sublime , Marion Leaters Kuntz (Translator), The Pennsylvania University Press 2008.

S. Cantwell, The Meaning and End of Religion,  Augsburg Fortress 1991.

M.T.Cicero,The Nature of the Gods (De natura deorum), translated with an introduction and notes by P.G. Walsh.OxfordUniversity Press (Oxford, New York) 2008.

H. G. Cox – Daisaku Ikeda, The Persistence of Religion Comparative Perspectives on Modern Spirituality,   I B Tauris & Co Ltd 2009.

H. G. Cox, The Future of Faith, Harper Collins Publishers 2009.

J.Dupuis, Christianity and the religions : from confrontation to dialogue. Phillip Berryman (Translator). Orbis Books- Longman and Todd, 2002.

J.Dupuis, Toward a Christian theology of religious pluralism, Orbis Book 1997.

Francisco de Vitoria, Political writings (CambridgeTexts in the History of Political Thought) Edited by Anthony Pagden, Jeremy Lawrance, Cambridge University Press 1991 (The book contents the Relection: On The American Indians).

J. Locke,A Letter concerning toleration, by Patrick Romanell, Classic Books America 2009.

Nicholas of Cusa's De Pace Fidei and Cribratio Alkorani: Translation and Analysis. Second Edition. Hopkins, Jasper (Translator): Arthur J Banning Press 1994.

St. Schwartz,  All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World, Yale University Press 2008.

J. Ratzinger, Introduction to the Christianity, Ignatius Press 2004.

J. Ratzinger, Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief And World Religions, Ignatius Press, 2004

Ch. TaylorVarieties of Religion Today. William James Revisited,  Harvard University Press 2003.

Voltaire, Treatise on tolerance (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy) Simon Harwey  (Translator) and Brian Master (Translator) Cambridge University Press 1991.