RELT10322 Introduction to the Study of Religions and Theology Core Course

 

Meeting times: Spring 2006, Wed 11 - 11.50am and Thur 12 - 12.50am

Tutor: Timothy Stanley, timothy.stanley@manchester.ac.uk

Course requirements:

  • assigned readings
  • one 2500 word essay worth 40% of your grade (due Tue, March 14)
  • group presentation worth 40% of your grade (due March 29-30)
  • mandatory participation is worth 20% of your grade and includes all seminars plus a 1000 word reflection (due Wed, Apr 26)

Key texts: the readings can be found in a course pack which can be purchased from the school office (A6). As well, a good source for supplementary readings which offer secondary accounts of the primary texts we will be engaging is The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, which can be purchased at the precinct centre Blackwells or found in the John Rylands Library.

Overview: In each week of this year long course we will cover methodological approaches to the study of religions and theology. We will discuss key readings for each approach in each weekly tutorial seminar. This course is designed to be an introduction to your Religions and Theology degree at the University of Manchester. It should therefore enable you to make the transition into higher education by developing study and other transferable skills as a basis for later learning. By the end of this course you should be aware of the intellectual history of ways of studying religion and theology and start to be able to demonstrate some understanding of different theoretical and analytical approaches.

Introduction to the Study of Religions and Theology Core Course

 

Week by Week Guide to the Course

 

Sociological Approaches

  • Wed, Feb 1, 11 - 11.50am, (Reading 1) Marx, Karl. "Contributions to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right." In Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970. (Reading 2) Giddens, Anthony. "Theories of Religion." In Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  • Thur, Feb 2, 12-1250pm, Durkheim, Emile. "Conclusion," in The Elementary Form of Religious Life. (Oxford: OUP, 2001).
  • Wed, Feb 8, 11-11.50am, Weber, Max. "Protestant Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism" in Max Weber: Selections in Translation (Cambridge: CUP, 1978) extracts from pp138-73.

Psychological Approaches

  • Thur, Feb 9, 11 - 11.50pm, James, William. "Lecture XVI and XVII Mysticism," in The Varieties of Religious Experience. (London: 2002).
  • Wed, Feb 15, 11 - 11.50am, Freud, Sigmund. "The Future of an Illusion." In The Freud Reader, edited by P. Gay. London: Vintage, 1995.
  • Thur, Feb 16, 12-12.50pm, Jung, Carl. "Freud and Jung: Contrasts." In Modern Man in Search of a Soul. London: Routledge Kegan and Paul, 1945.

Historical Approaches

  • Wed, Feb 22, 11-11.50am, (Primary Source 1) Rothmann, Bernard. "A Restitution of Christian Teaching, Faith and Life (October 1534)." In The European Reformations Sourcebook, edited by Carter Lindberg. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000. (Primary Source 2) Foxe, John. "History of Christian Martyrs to the First General Persecutions Under Nero." In Foxe's Book of Martyrs: A History of the Lives, Sufferings and Triumphant Deaths of the Early Christian and the Protestant Martyrs. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1967. (Secondary Source) MacCulloch, Diarmuid, Reformation: Europe's House Divided, 1490-1700. (London: Penguin, 2004), pp. 204-212 and 549-557.
  • Thur, Feb 23, 12-12.50pm, (Primary Source 1) Elphinstone, Mountsuart, "Indian Customs and Manners," 1840, available at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/1840elphinstone.html. (Primary Source 2)Bentinck, Lord William, "On the Suppression of Sati, 8 November 1829," in Aurthur B Keith, ed. Speeches and Documents on Indian Policy, 1750-1921. (Oxford: OUP, 1922) available at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1829bentinck.html. (Secondary Source) Mani, Lata, "Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India," in K. Sangari and S. Vaid, Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History. vol 1. (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989).
  • Wed, Mar 1, 11-11.50am, (Primary Source 1) "Midrashic Approach to Genesis 22: Targum Pseudo-Jonathan," in Philip Alexander, Textual Sources for the study of Judaism. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984). (Primary Source 2) "Liberal Jewish Approach to Genesis 22," in Umberto Cassuto, Commentary on Genesis. (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1961). (Secondary Source) Alexander, Philip, "The Bible in Judaism," in John Rogerson, ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible. (Oxford: OUP, 2001).

Approaching Transcendence

  • Thur, Mar 2, 12 - 12.50pm, (Reading 1) Tillich, Paul, Systematic Theology, vol. 1, pp. 211-28 (Reading 2) Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.7 (Reading 3) Thousand Teachings of Shankara
  • Wed, Mar 8, 11-11.50am, (Reading 1) McGrath, Alistair, Christian Theology: An Introduction, 3rd edition, pp. 201-207. (Reading 2) Shankara's and Ramanuja.
  • Thur, Mar 9, 12-12.50pm, (Reading 1) Melanchthon, Philip, "On Justification by Faith," in McGrath, Alistair, ed. The Christian Theology Reader, pp. 423-25. (Reading 2) Ramanuja.

Approaching Sacred Space

  • Wed, Mar 15, 11 - 11.50am, Hand out Sacred Space group presentation instructions.
  • Thu, Mar 16 , 12-12.50pm, Group study day
  • Wed, Mar 22, 11-11.50am, 2 minute individual presentations
  • Thu, Mar 23, 12-12.50pm, Group study day
  • Wed, Mar 29 and Thur, Mar 30, Group presentations due. 

Easter Break

  • Three week break from Apr 1 - Apr 22. During this time students should read key texts to prepare for their sacred space group presentation as well as plan to visit their specific sacred space in Manchester.

Participation Assessment

  • Wed, Apr 26, 11-11.50am, 1000 word participation reflections due as well as individual tutorial meetings.