Course Catalog

REL324E World Religions (3 credits) 9390

COURSE DESCRIPTION
A study of the main religious systems of the world, including Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity. These religions are seen in historical and cultural perspective, and translations of their writings are examined.

LEARNING RESULTS
When you have finished this course you should be able to:
1. Describe the nature of religion and some of the common elements that recur in various religions.
2. Present and defend the idea that religion began with an original monotheism from which humans subsequently departed.
3. Summarize the history and main branches of Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Baha'i, Chinese religion, and Japanese religion.
4. Depict the important features of a traditional or tribal religion and how they are exemplified by African Traditional Religion and Native American Tribal Religion.
5. Reiterate the beliefs of the religions mentioned in points 3 and 4 above, particularly as they address deities and spiritual powers, the meaning and destiny of human life, and the various paths toward the respective goals of the religions in question.
6. Explicate the various practices associated with the religions in question.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS
• Winfried Corduan, Neighboring Faiths (Downers Grove, Ill. InterVarsity Press, 1998).

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INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND LEARNING
The integration of faith and learning occurs in this course as we compare and contrast various world religions with Christianity. In doing so, we not only learn about these other religions from an historical and cultural point of view, we also gain a deeper appreciation for Christianity and increase our knowledge of how to approach others from different religions.
LEARNING DOCUMENTATION
To determine if the course learning results have been attained, students document their learning by submitting the following items:

Assignment #1 Introduction
Assignment #2 Judaism
Assignment #3 Islam
Assignment #4 Zoroastrianism (Parsiism)
Assignment #5 Traditional Religions (African)
Assignment #6 Native American Religions
Assignment #7 Hinduism
Assignment #8 Buddhism
Assignment #9 Jainism, Sikhism, Baha’i
Assignment #10 Chinese Popular Religions
Assignment #11 Japanese Religions
4 Exams

There are 11 lessons and 4 examinations for this course.

LEARNING EVALUATION
Your grade for this course will consist of fifteen equal parts: eleven chapter assignments and four unit tests. Each chapter assignment has ten questions, worth 5 points each, and each test has fifty questions. So, the breakdown is this:

11 Assignments 50 points each Total of 550 points possible
4 Exam 50 points each Total of 200 points possible
TOTAL POINTS 750