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Comparative Religion: Ph/Th:     Fall 1998  Carol Ochs
Mon. 12:20-1:40
Thurs.1:45-3:00

All religions, as insight into the common conditions of humanity, deal with our fundamental concerns. But they give different weight to the problems we face. We can enter into another religion and return to our own faith with "holy envy" and a determination to find that richness within our own tradition, or with a sense that this is an area in which we are in essential disagreement. We will explore how the five world religions we have chosen to study deal with: death, guilt, ethics, meaning, the things we can't control, the definition of the self, loneliness, otherness, aging etc.



Mon. August 31 (at Kutz Camp) Introduction to the Course
Thur.  Sept. 3 Introduction to Hinduism, Brahamn and the Pit (7) Hindu view of life (9)

Mon.  Sept.  7 continued
            10 selections from the Upanishads (20)

Mon.  Sept. 14 selections from the Bhagavad Gita (32)
            17 Life Stages (45)

September 21-October 6 no classes

        
Thur. Oct.  8 I Am But a Seeker After Truth (52)

Mon.  Oct. 12 No Classes Shmini Atzeret
           14 Intro to Buddhism (61) The Roar of Awakening (63) Buddhahood (65)

Mon.  Oct. 19 continued. Selections from Buddhist Scriptures
      Oct. 22 the Mahayana and the Ideal of the Bodhisattva (94)

Mon. Oct. 26 continued. Buddhism as a way of Life (99)
     Oct. 29 Intro to Zen Buddhism (113) The Essence of Zen 117

Mon. Nov.  2 continued. Be Like a Frog (138)
     Nov.  5 Intro to Christianity (311) Ways of Being Religious in the New Testament (315)

Mon. Nov.  9 Readings in the New Testament (319)
     Nov. 12 no class

Mon. Nov. 16 continued
     Nov. 19 The Anguish of Being a Christian (338)

Mon. Nov. 23 Seeds of Contemplation (350)
     Nov. 26 No Classes Thanksgiving

Mon. Nov. 30 Intro to Islam (371) The Qur'anic Teaching (387)
     Dec.  3 continued; selections from the Koran (377)

Mon. Dec.  7 Deliverance from Error (393)
     Dec. 10 The Originality of Sufism (399)

Mon. Dec. 14 Moments of the Religious Life
     Dec. 17 LAST DAY OF CLASSES

Required Text: Roger Eastman The Ways of Religion second edition 
Oxford University Press
Reading assignments are to be read before the class in which they are listed.
Requirements for the course are 5 short papers due after the religion has been studied and before completion of the next religion.