Rel 198-08
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EXAM #1 |
Monday, Sept. 15. On the Introduction and Cchs. 1-4 plus related readings.
The exam will ask you to discuss two of these four, chosen by lot the day of the exam. Explain major concepts, showing connections where relevant, and providing illustrations from the extra readings as well as from the text, depending on what illustrative material is available. You can translate the word "discuss" into "explain," if that helps you to focus your answer.
1. Defining Religion. This is an
aspect of both the introduction to the book and chapter 2. This includes
explaining what religion is not, as in the cases of atheism and
agnosticism, and both religious and non-religious theories of religion.
The excerpts from Freud and Eliade are relavent here as illustrations.
This topic also includes the issue of whether primitive beliefs and
practices should be called religion. You can use the material on the
Mekranoti and the Yanomami to illustrate this issue.
2. Stages of Development, cultural and religious. The introduction, as
well as the material of chs 1 & 3 are relevant here. This includes the
differences among primitive, archaic, and historic or classical -- the
differences in beliefs, in modes of expression (folktale, grand myth,
systematic analysis), and differences in how much order each stage
perceives in the universe. The continuing belief in gods in the Sermon
at Benares can illustrate this; so can the knowledge you many have of
some gods of polytheistic religion.
3. The Axial Age and Universalist Religion. The will draw mainly on ch.
3, though the first part of ch. 4 is also relevant. In spite of
significant differences in the precise content of beliefs, there are
some basic strong similarities among the classical religions of East and
West. A discussion of this should include an explanation of how there is
a single Ultimate in each of several religions, what it means to speak
of an "Ultimate" and the problem of how one can talk about it at all.
Readings from Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist sources can be used here.
4. Human Consciousness and Estrangement. This focuses on Ch. 4, though
the Buddha's attitude towards life might also represent estrangement
from earthly conditions. Here note the ultimate questions human minds
can ask, explore the aspects of life that most challenge a sense that
everything is all right as well as the difficulty of finding good
answers (the handout on theodicy can be a useful illustration here).
Describe the 3 types of estrangement, and how it may lead to
world-rejection.
| EXAM #2 |
EXAM #2. Wednesday, October 22. On Parts II and III (including introductions to these Parts).
1. Explore and explain the differences among primitive, archaic, and historic cultures (including the transition from archaic to historic) on salvation from natural conditions, including death. Use the readings entitled "After Death" to illustrate some of these differences. Use material from the Sermon at Benares to illustrate one "historic" way of dealing with problems of life. Be sure to include the Platonist approach also as an example of "historic" thought.
2. Describe differences in senses of the "self" among primitive, archaic, historic, and modern culture and religion. Use chapter 7, including the material on 147-148 for this. You will find some material in ch. 6 useful also, inasmuch as forms of "belonging" are part of any person's self-identity.
3. Describe and illustrate the four major kinds of moral motivations outlined in ch. 8. This description should also include instances of what might be casuistry and utilitarian reasoning. As a source of illustrations, select some film or TV series. Because you have all seen Eng. 198 films you can work in groups on this. If you want to form a group around some other film your group has seen, e.g., Office Space, or Lord of the Rings, you may do this.
4. Use Peter Berger’s theory to explain how tradition, including leaders, texts, and interpretations, as well as symbols and ritual, can function to provide a guiding "nomos" for a group of people and individuals in that group, and thereby establish a person's identity. Show your knowledge of each and all of these categories (tradition, leaders, texts, etc.), by giving examples. [The examples can be from the course materials or from other sources if that is convenient, but be clear when using other sources the teacher may not be familiar with.]
5. Explain why what we call theology, philosophy, and science were made possible by the universalist mode of thought which began with the axial age. Explain Aquinas' 3rd proof for the existence of God (using either the text or the reading from Aquinas -- or both); also explain Wm. James' argument that the nature of religion means one should not wait for proof.
| EXAM #3: FINAL EXAM |
| Prayer for students |
As usual, be sure to provide clear explanations of all major parts of the topics, with definitions as needed, and specific examples from the text or relevant readings to further explain or illustrate.
1. Topic: humanisms.
Define "humanism" and explore its secular forms, with
illustrations of how one of these might function like a religion (ch.
12) or emphasize autonomy (ch. 13) as well as one or more of its
religious forms in liberation theologies (ch. 14)
2. Topic: tolerance.
Discuss the issue of tolerance as it appeared in Lord
Herbert of Cherbury's time and his answer to religious strife (ch. 12),
as it appears in the list of complaints about religion (ch. 13), how
belief in the tentativeness of knowledge (ch. 14) and post-modern
relativism (ch. 15) might bear upon this issue.
3. Topic: religious faith in
modern times.
Describe Schleiermacher's "liberal" theology and the
fundamentalist response to it,(ch. 14). Explain Lindbeck's
position, which he calls "post-liberal," its similarities to
post-modernism and cultural relativism (ch. 15). In the U.S. what
evidence is available, according to the text, about the future of
various forms of faith? (ch. 15
4. Topic: stages of faith.
Briefly describe the five stages of faith Fowler
identifies [you do not need to memorize his names, but they can be
helpful guides] (ch. 15), and compare them, also briefly to the
five stages of cultural development (for our purposes here they are
primitive, archaic, historic, modern, and post-modern) (many
chapters).
5. Topic: keeping the
faith
Describe the four or five different criteria for belief which
Fowler's theory delineates (imaginative appeal, etc.)
Explain where you would place Bultmann's existential theology (ch.
14). Briefly discuss which of these faith styles would most
likely accept the four similar types of defense against rationalistic
skepticism; and which would be most likely to employ "academic"
standards for evaluating religion? (Epilog)
[ How exams used to be monitored ! ]
This page was last modified December 8, 2008