Notes on the Syllabus

The following syllabus was used for an Introduction to Religious Studies

taught at Lawrence University in Fall 2012. The class met twice a week, for a
session of 110 mins. with a break in the middle. The rationale of the course was
to provide students with methods and models of thought, analysis and critique
of religious phenomena, rather than with hard data on specific religions. In
short, the difference between an Introduction to World Religions and
Introduction to Religious Studies should be understood, in order to properly
assess the structure of the course. It is therefore that sources from various
traditions are presented in comparison without historical context, and for the
same reason non-religious works of fiction were also introduced.
The first half of the course was entitled components of religion and
the second half critique of religion. The first half focused on abstract ideas,
with each class starting with a list of words related to that theme, each student
contributing a word and explaining how it relates to the topic. The second half
was accompanied with Pals excellent Eight Theories, and with selections from
the actual scholars Pals introduces. Markham and Lohrs reader was used for
some primary texts and some basic facts on religions, providing a peephole to
how a World Religions class may have looked. It is slightly more theological
than critical with an undertone of a Christian bias. These defects in the reader
were discussed in class, but it was nevertheless chosen for its affordability and
accessibility. In addition to many classic readings, the course included two
selections from the faculty at Lawrence University, as a way of introducing
students to research conducted in their home institution, and to familiarize
majors in the department with the work of their teachers. Such selections will
change from institution to institution.
The final assignment of the course is appended to this syllabus and
requires the students to combine the two sections of the course, choosing one
component, and analyzing it in a single tradition using at least one critique.

INTRODUCTION TO RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Aryeh Amihay


Details:
RLST 100; CRN 3457
Room: Main Hall 201
T Th 9:00-10:50

Office 411 (phone: 832-7202)
Office Hours: M 9:00-11:00
aryeh.amihay@lawrence.edu


Books

Markham, Ian S. and Christy Lohr, eds. A World Religions Reader (3rd edition). Malden, Mass.: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2009.

Pals, Daniel L. Eight Theories of Religion. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Abbreviations: textbooks cited henceforth as WRR and Pals.

Other readings are on Moodle, except for biblical and Quranic passages. Those can be found online, or on the
course Reserves.
Students are expected to come to class with copies of the texts they prepared, printed or electronic.

Purpose
The course is intended to provide students with basic tools to think critically about religion and analyze religious
texts. As such, it is focused on abstractions, not on the study of data about specific religions. Themes will be
discussed through specific examples of particular religions, but there will be no attempt to cover traditions
equally or to represent them accurately. Students work will be assessed based on style, coherence of arguments,
and degree of analysis of chosen terms or texts.

Grading: 15% each response (
x
5=75%)
25% final paper



Students should note Absence and Tardiness policy in separate sheet. Students should never enter
class late. Students should be actively engaging in the readings and in class discussion. Students
who are either disinterested or incapable of assuming the intellectual commitment of reading and
responding, both orally and in writing, should not take this class.

Assistance
Students are encouraged to attend office hours to consult the instructor about their work. Students are welcome
to schedule a meeting with the CTL tutor for the course, Ms. Emma Huston (emma.huston@lawrence.edu).




1 Amihay, Intro; RLST 100
Part A: Components of Religion

Class 1 (Apr. 1) Introduction

*WRR, 2-10
*Pals, 3-15


Class 2 (Apr. 3): Gods

Read two mythologies of the following (separate traditions recommended, but not required):

Bhagavad Gita, chapters 1, 3, 9

Enuma Elish

Gilgamesh and Ishtar, (Gilgamesh, tablet VI)

Hesiod, Theogony, lines 507-929

Kojiki, volume 1, 6-8

Ovid, Metamorphoses, from Book II


Read hymns from one tradition (preference for third tradition, but not required):

Pindar, Nemean Odes 1, 6, 11

Rig Veda, Mandala 1, hymns 17, 22, 40, 89, 123, 159, 162



Class 3 (Apr. 8): God

Akhenaton, Hymn to the Aten

Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book 12 (lambda), 1072a-1075b

Genesis 1, Isaiah 45

The Lords Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), Gospel of J ohn 1

Quran 112

Adi Granth, Section 27 - Raag Kaydaaraa

Thomas Aquinas, The Omnipotence of God

2 Amihay, Intro; RLST 100
Class 4 (Apr. 10): Revelation, Knowledge, Secrets and Scripture
Deadline for response 1

WRR, 78-82 [on Enlightenment in Buddhism]

Hesse, Siddhartha, Chapter 3 (Awakening). Optional: chapter 4 (Kamala)

Moses Received Torah from Sinai (one paragraph in WRR, 167)

Kugel, The Bible as It Was, 17-23

Quran 2

Isaiah 6

History of J oseph Smith, 1-54

WRR, 106-107 [on the I Ching]



Class 5 (Apr. 15): Sin, Righteousness and the Problem of Evil

Plato, Euthyphro, 4a-11c (pp. 13-41 in Loeb edition)

Augustine, Confessions 1.7, 2.1-2.9

WRR, 92-95 [Senses and Idle Thoughts in Buddhism; note the Four Truths!]

Leibniz, The Argument Reduced to Syllogistic Form

Heym, Ahasver (The Wandering Jew), 239-242 (from chapter 23)



Class 6 (Apr. 17): Free Will and Predestination

WRR, 50-56 [predestination in Hindusim; note the Three das, and the caste system]

Dostoevsky, The Grand Inquisitor [from Brothers Karamazov, 248-260]

Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed, Book 3, chapter 17

Shabistari, Secret Rose Garden, 8





3 Amihay, Intro; RLST 100
Class 7 (Apr. 22): Purity and Defilement

WRR 157-158 [purity in Zoroastrianism]

Manual of Hadith 29, Toilet [in the sense of hygiene]

Leviticus 11-15, 18 [skim]

Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger, 29-40 (Chapter 2: Secular Defilement)


Class 8 (Apr. 24): Sacred Space
Deadline for response 2

Herodotus, Histories 1.181-184 [on the Ziggurat]

Melville, Clarel, Part 1, cantos 5 [Clarel] 12 [Celio]; 13 [the Arch]

Amichai, Tourists

WRR, 223-224 [the Hajj in Islam] +recommended: de Bellaigue, In the Supreme Shrine

Mark 11

Smith, Religion, Culture and Sacred Space, 1-25 (Chapter 1: How to Build Places with Words)


Class 9 (Apr. 29): Worship 1: Ritual and Salvation, knowledge vs. deeds

Salinger, Franny and Zooey, selections (pp. 30-41, 100-102, 163-172)

Carr and Ivanhoe, The Sense of Antirationalism, 58-89 (Chapter 3: The Path to Salvation)

WRR, 68-71 [ritual vs. understanding in J ainism]

WRR, 107-117 [Taoism and Confucianism]


Class 10 (May 1): Worship 2: Devotion, Submission and Sacrifice

Mark 1, Matthew 6, 8

WRR, 38-50 [devotion and sacrifice in Hinduism]

WRR, 89-90 [devotion in Buddhism]

Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, 102-123 (Is There Such a Thing as an Absolute Duty Toward God?)

Girard, Violence and the Sacred, 1-27 (Chapter 1: Sacrifice)
4 Amihay, Intro; RLST 100
Class 11 (May 6): Death and afterlife
Deadline for response 3

Book of the Dead, pp. 3-4, 38-39, 68, 70-71, 73-75, 102-111, 128-131

Plato, Phaedo, 61d-69e, 79b-84b (pp. 5-15, 28-34 in Gallops translation, Oxford 1975)

Pascal, The Wager

Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, 51-65 (Part Two)


Reading Period (no class): May 8


Part B: Critique of Religion


Class 12 (May 13): Church and State
Deadline for decision on topic for final, 8pm
- Augustine, City of God, XIX.13-18 (pp. 870-879 in the Penguin edition)
- Hobbes, Leviathan, chapter 12
- Spinoza, Theological-Political Treatise, chapter 19
- Thomas J efferson, Letter to the Danbury Baptists
- Bob Dylan, With God on Our Side


Class 13 (May 15): Freud

- Pals, 64-81
- Freud, On the Question of Weltanschauung, 160173
- Read one of the following: Taboo upon Rulers; Omnipotence of Thoughts; Moses and
Monotheism


Class 14 (May 20): Durkheim

- Pals, 95-114
- Durkheim, Elementary Forms of Religious Life, 25-46 (Chapter 1: A Definition of the Religious
Phenomenon and of Religion)


Class 15 (May 22): Marx
Deadline for response 4
- Pals, 130-145
- Marx, Capital, on commodities, capital, and labor power (312-317, 329-343)
- Read one selection from Marxs earlier writings: Private property and Communism, 301-308 (on
marriage, alienation, and society); or Ideology in General, Especially German Philosophy, 408-415
(on human production, relationship between life and consciousness)
5 Amihay, Intro; RLST 100
Class 16 (May 27): Weber

- Pals, 159-188
- Weber, Sociology of Religion, 166-183 (Chapter 11: Asceticism, Mysticism, and Salvation Religion)



Class 17 (May 29): Eliade

- Pals, 196-226
- Eliade, Images and Symbols, 27-56 (Chapter 1: Symbolism of the Centre)



Class 18 (J une 3): Geertz
Deadline for response 5
- Pals, 267-289
- Geertz, Religion as a Cultural System



Class 19 (J une 5): Conclusion

- Smith, Religion, Religions, Religious
- WRR, 2-9, 274-277, 291-298

- Optional: Pals, 292-320

6 Amihay, Intro; RLST 100

INTRODUCTION TO RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Aryeh Amihay


Final Paper

Deadline and Submission: Assignment is to be handed in by Wednesday, June 11, 10:30am in an
electronic format (either by email aryeh.amihay@lawrence.edu or through Moodle). I will not accept
hardcopy submissions for the final paper.
Instructions:

Write a 4-6 pp. essay on a topic from Col. A as it appears in a tradition from Col. B, using at least
one critique from Col. C.

Students are expected to be familiar with all topics at the end of the term. If an item from column
A is unfamiliar to students, they are urged to look it up or discuss it with instructor. Students are
not expected to be familiar with all traditions of Col. B or all thinkers of Col. C. They are
expected to go over these lists, and acknowledge that there are much more traditions and scholars
than this course could cover.

Students may choose topics not listed here by consultation with instructor. Students are not
required to use a tradition and topic combination discussed in class. It is the students
responsibility to find resources for an educated discussion of a subject not covered in class.
Consultation with instructor is allowed and encouraged.

List of traditions is not intended to be comprehensive. Students may select a tradition not listed,
and are encouraged to narrow a tradition from the list to a specific branch, a period in time, or an
influential figure or text. Some suggestions of narrowing the tradition are suggested in the list
(e.g., Christianity and Buddhism are both listed, along with some of their branches).

A comparative discussion (including more than one topic or tradition) is allowed.


Students must notify instructor of their choice of topic and tradition [Cols. A+B] by May 13,
2014, 8pm. Each combination may be chosen only once, so make sure to reserve your preferred
topic early.


All previous guidelines for scholarly writing apply.



A. Topics


B. Traditions

C. Critiques

Admonition
Afterlife
Angels
Animism
Anthropomorphism
Apocalypticism
Apotheosis
Ascension
Asceticism
Atonement
Authority
Awareness
Axis Mundi
Balance
Belief
Blasphemy
Body
Canon
Change
Chastity
Church and State
Class
Clergy
Community/Congregation
Conversion
Cosmology
Creation
Cult
Death
Defilement
Deism
Demons
Determinism
Devotion
Discipline
Dualism
Duty
Ecstasy
Election
Enlightenment
Epiphany
Eschatology
Esotericism
Eternity
Evil
Expiation
Faith
Fatalism
Fear
Festivals
Forgiveness



Free Will
Freedom
Fundamentalism
Garments
God
Grace
Guilt
Harmony
Heathens & heretics
Heaven and Hell
Henotheism
Hierarchy
Holiness
Homily
Icon
Idolatry
Immortality
Initiation
Innocence
Interpretation
J ourney
J udgment
J ustice
Knowledge
Law
Liturgy
Love
Magic
Meditation
Messianism
Miracle
Modesty
Monasticism
Money
Monism
Monotheism
Morality
Mysticism
Myth
Name
Numbers
Omnipotence
Omniscience
Orthodoxy
Orthopraxy
Pantheism
Peace
Performance
Piety
Pilgrimage
Polytheism
Possessions
Prayer

Predestination
Priesthood
Profanity
Prophecy
Providence
Punishment
Purity
Purpose
Redemption
Reincarnation
Repentance
Resurrection
Revelation
Reward
Righteousness
Ritual
Sacred
Sacrifice
Sacrilege
Salvation
Sanctification
Satan
Scripture
Secret
Sermon
Service
Sexuality
Shrine
Sin
Solitude
Soteriology
Soul
Spirit
Submission
Suffering
Syncretism
Taboo
Temple
Theodicy
Theophany
Time
Tradition
Tranquility
Transcendence
Truth
Unity
Universalism
Vanity
Violence
Wealth
Wisdom
Worship
Zeal

Ancient Egyptian
Anishinaabe
Anthroposophy
Aztec Religion
Bah'
Buddhism
Candombl
Catholicism
Celtic Religion
Christianity
Confucianism
Druze Religion
Gnosticism
Greco-Roman
Hinduism
Inca Religion
Islam
J ainism
J udaism
Latter-Day Saints
Mahayana Buddhism
Mandaeism
Maya Religion
Mesopotamian
Muism
Neopaganism
New Age
Odinani
Peyotism
Protestantism
Rastafari
Romanipen
Scientology
Shaivism
Shamanism
Shenism
Shintoism
Sikhism
Sufism
Taoism
Theosophy
Theravada Buddhism
Vaishnavism
Vajrayana Buddhsim
Vodun
Wicca
Yazdnism
Zen Buddhism
Zoroastrianism

Giorgio Agamben
Talal Asad
Georges Bataille
J udith Butler
J oseph Campbell
Michel de Certeau
Mary Daly
Mary Douglas
mile Durkheim
Mircea Eliade
E.E. Evans-Pritchard
Ludwig Feuerbach
J .G. Frazer
Sigmund Freud
Erich Fromm
Clifford Geertz
Ren Girard
Stewart Guthrie
J rgen Habermas
G.W.F. Hegel
Marsha Aileen Hewitt
David Hume
William J ames
Carl J ung
Walter Kaufmann
J ulia Kristeva
Claude Lvi-Strauss
Alasdair MacIntyre
Bronislaw Malinowski
Karl Marx
Abraham Maslow
Max Mller
Friedrich Nietzsche
Rudolf Otto
Bertrand Russell
Friedrich Schleiermacher
Ninian Smart
J onathan Z. Smith
E. B. Tylor
Max Weber
R. J . Zwi Werblowsky