CS 4363 Christian Encounters with Other Cultures: Engaging the Great World Religions Tuesdays 1–3:40 PM Instructor: Stephen D. Lawson lawson@austingrad.edu Office: 209 Office Hours: Mondays: 1–3 and by appointment Phone: (512) 476-2772, ext. 209 I view it as my responsibility to be available and responsive to you. I aim to respond to all emails within 24 hours (weekends excluded) and am willing to set up meeting times with you to talk in person. Note bene: Anything on this syllabus can change at the professor’s discretion in order to accommodate the needs of the professor and/or the students. Any changes will be communicated via email, Canvas announcement, or in-class notice. In some cases, a revised syllabus may be posted on Canvas. Course Description: This course is a historical and theological study of the major world religions from a Christian perspective. Students will achieve a foundational understanding of the central tenants and practices associated with major non-Christian religions, including religious unbelief. Students will also practice engaging with non-Christian religions from a Christian perspective with humility, hospitality, and sympathy. Learning Objectives:

• The student will build a basic vocabulary of key terms indigenous to the various religions of the world (including non-religious approaches such as atheism and agnosticism).

• The student will be capable of describing basic tenants and practices of the major world religions in a manner that informed, devout adherents of those religions could recognize as accurate.

• The student will learn how to interact with adherents of other religions in a spirit of charity and clarity. This involves learning to play well the role of either host or guest within an interreligious exchange.

• The student will learn how to read primary texts closely and sympathetically. • The student will develop an appreciation for the distinctness and core concerns of each

religion. • The student will develop the rudiments of a Christian theology of culture and religion.

Course Textbooks

• David B. Burrell, Friendship and Ways to Truth (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2000)

Photo of Jerusalem through the window of the Dominus Flevit (“God wept”) chapel on the Mount

of Olives

• Stephen Prothero, God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World (New York: HarperOne, 2010)

• Jaroslav Pelikan, ed., The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1990) [abbreviated MRT in course schedule]*

• Additional readings and resources posted on Canvas site (marked with * in the course schedule). Course Schedule

Date Theme Journal Readings Other assignments

Jan 21 Introduction

Jan 28 Friendship and Pluralism Friendship and Ways to Truth, 1–35 Heim, Salvations, chaps. 5 & 6*

Feb 4 Friendship and Pluralism, cont.

Friendship and Ways to Truth, 37–111 Smith, “Religion, Religions, Religious”*

Feb 11 Hinduism The Story of Nachiketa and Yama* Prothero, 131–68.

Feb 18 Hinduism, cont. Tagore, “The Four Stages of Life” (MRT) Radhakrishnan, “Mysticism and Ethics in

Hindu Thought” (MRT)

Feb 25 Buddhism The Mustard Seed* Prothero, 169–201 Kitagawa, “Buddhism in the Modern World” (MRT)

March 3 Buddhism, cont. Chinese Religion (Confucianism and Daoism)

TBD

March 10 Chinese Religion (Confucianism and Daoism), cont.

Fung, “The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy” (MRT) “A Neo-Confucian Manifesto” (MRT)

March 17 Spring Break March 24 Introduction to The

Abrahamic Faiths Judaism

Bruce Feiler, “Children of Abraham” (introduction to Abrahamic religions) On Being podcast Buber, “I and Thou” (MRT) Prothero, 243–78

Exam: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese Religion

March 31 Judaism Heschel, “The Spirit of Judaism” (MRT)

* This title is out of print, but affordable used copies are widely available online.

Kaplan, “What is Traditional Judaism?” (MRT)

April 7 Islam Gibb, “The Foundations of Islamic Thought” (MRT) Schimmel, “Man and His Perfection in Islam” (MRT) Rahman, “The Qur’ān” (MRT) “Jesus in the Qur’ān” (Minding Scripture podcast)

April 14 Islam April 21 Unbelief Prothero, 317–29.

Camus, “The Unbeliever,” (MRT) Nietzsche, “Beyond Good and Evil”

(MRT)

April 28 Unbelief Marx, “Religion, the Opium of the People” (MRT)

Feuerbach, “The Essence of Religion” (MRT)

Christian Smith, “XXX

Exam: Abrahamic Religions and Religious Unbelief

May 5 Conclusion Vatican II, Nostra Aetate* Hart, “Death, Final Judgment, and the Meaning of Life”*

May 12 Final Exam scheduled Course assignments

• Course Journal (15 points each = 210 points; 42% of grade): Before class every week students will upload a document to the Canvas site which summarizes the assigned material for the week and analyzes it through disciplined questioning.

o Précis & Discussion Questions § A précis is a concise and accurate summary of a given material (text or other

media). Quotations from the material should be employed sparingly. Please consult the document “Guide for Writing Good Summaries” on the Canvas site before writing your first précis.

§ For every reading assignment each student will write a brief précis followed by 1–3 discussion questions. Each précis should be between 150 and 350 words (longer material should have longer précis). Write them (single-spaced) on a single document. Follow each précis by the discussion questions. Students should upload their précis and discussion questions as a .docx file to the Canvas site by 11:59PM on the Monday before class.

§ Discussion questions generally fall into three types of questions: • Questions that ask for explanation, due to the reader not understanding

certain passages in the text (please note if any vocabulary was unfamiliar or confusing for you and I will try to address it in class)

• Questions that arise from the text making a point that would seem to contradict an earlier text, or a discussion in class

• Questions that ask “so what,” and want to know the implications of certain claims, and what difference it would make if they were true

• Exams (150 points; 30% of grade) o There will be two exams over objective course material. Each exam will be worth 15% of

your final grade. • Burrell Reflection Paper (40 points; 8% of grade)

o Following our reading and discussion of David Burrell’s Friendship and Ways to Truth write a 3–5 page (double-spaced) reflection paper over the book and what it has to say about Christian engagement with non-Christian religious and philosophical positions. Consider engaging with the book with the following questions in mind:

§ How does Burrell understand friendship? § In light of the book, what helps or hinders friendship? § Can we be friends with those different than us? If so, by what parameters? § What would it mean to be friends with God?

o Due view Canvas upload by 11:59 PM on Thursday, February 6. • Course Reflection Paper (100 points; 20% of grade)

o At the conclusion of our course you will write a 7–10 page integrative reflection paper in which you will reflect about what you learned about some of the religious perspectives that we discussed in class. Additionally, in the spirit of Paul’s presentation of the gospel in Athens, you will be asked to highlight points of convergence and divergence from Christianity.

Classroom Policies

Attendance: It is essential that you attend class. If you know in advance that you will be unable to attend class due to a valid reason (e.g. family emergency, doctor’s visit, etc.) then please communicate that with the professor as soon as possible. Every unexcused absence after the first one will lower your final grade by 25 points (5%).

Late Work: I will generally not accept late work without penalty. If you find that you will need some extra time, you can request an extension via e-mail at least one full business day in advance. I will review all requests and you will be notified as soon as possible whether or not they will be granted. Work turned in late without an approved extension will lose one letter grade for each day that it is late.

Technology: Students are not permitted to use laptops, tablets, cell phones, or any similar devices during class time. The reason for this is that many studies have shown that even note taking on laptops is highly inefficient and often a detriment to actual learning.

Course Journal 210 points Exam 1 75 points Exam 2 75 points Burrell Reflection paper 40 points Course Reflection paper 100 points Total 500 points