376-08 Main Page


     Max Mueller

 Schleiermacher

     Lindbeck

 
    Harvey Cox
 

      Sayyid Qutb

    Mircea Eliade

  Emile Durkheim

  Clifford Geertz

  Sigmund Freud

Gustavo Gutierrez

Elizabeth Johnson

CALENDAR and ASSIGNMENTS

Part I: Introductory Readings for Background
Basic issues:  1) challenges from the social sciences to religion
                      2) responses by religion:  inward-looking vs. outward;  localizing vs. universalizing
Mon. Jan 7
[Roll call;  pictures.  Calendar.   Webpage located.]
Section I of the course:  background on the major sources of tension.

Readings for next class, with questions to be answered BRIEFLY on a 4 x 6 card
Topic:  background on social science approaches to religion and on religious responses
Pals pp. 3-10 (7pp) on the scientific study of religion
1.   Ques: what did Max Müller mean by a “science of religion”?
2.   Ques: what happened after 1500 that led to this approach to religion?
      Barnes’ intro (3 pp), on the division of theologies into inward and outward.
3.   Ques: Explain briefly what this division is.
4.   Ques:  briefly describe the 3 "modern" ideas -- universalism, rationalism, individualism.
Historical-critical method (8pp), Protestant & Catholic inward responses to this “scientific” approach.
5.   Ques: identify some things that Martin thinks are wrong with the historical-critical method.
6.   Ques: What two presumptions does McCarthy say characterizes the "neo-Patristic" approach.
             [This is in sections 7 & 8.  You can skip the rest of McC if you like.]

Wed.  Jan 9         Discuss possible paper topics
Discuss readings.  Topic:  The effect of the Enlightenment on the authority of tradition
Pre-lectio for next class on the influence of Kant, Schleiermacher, and Renan
       [attacking proofs for God; promoting intuition; making Jesus fully human]

Readings for next class, with questions
Syllabus of Errors (2pp), Pius IX,   (upper picture at the right)
Vehementer Nos excerpt, St. Pius X,  (lower picture at right) and 
Schultenover (3pp), on the inward in older Catholic thought
1.   Ques: pick an “error” in the Syllabus that you in fact think is correct, not an error;
2.   Ques:  Explain whether Pius X was in favor of the separation of church and state.
3.   Ques: What future status for the Catholic Church did Leo XIII and Pius X desire?
Consemius in Baum (Ch. 2) on Catholic anti-modernism, just pp. 14-15.
4.   Ques:  why were the Germans not accused of modernism?

Mon . Jan  14
Discuss readings.  Topic:  some forms of "inward" responses and possible implications.
Prelection on reading for next class:  faith community vs. accommodationism ;
      radical orthodoxy and postliberal theology.

Readings for next class, with questions
Hall in Baum, Ch. 1, on the Great War and the theologians (10pp)
1.   Ques:  What was the illusion which the Great War brought an end to?
2.   Ques:  Identify some aspect of the "new theology. (neo-orthodoxy).
Milbank, Theology and Social Theory  (3pp) [skip pp. 406-407]
3.   Ques:  Cite some lines to support the claim that Milbank rejects secular reason
Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine (10pp)
4.   Ques:  Cite some lines expressing the idea that language shapes experience.
5.   Ques:  religions are "idioms" for doing what, according to L?
6.   Ques:  Explain how Lindbeck's position could be called "inward."
Pre-lectio on neo-orthodoxy, on Milbank -- ungrounded "metadiscourse" & postmodernism
    -- and on Lindbeck -- criticism of emotive-expressive and cognitivist interp of religion

Wed. Jan. 16
Discuss Hall, Milbank, and Lindbeck.  Topic:  still looking inward
Pre-lectio on Cox's book, The Secular City as outward-looking; + Robinson's worldly holiness.

Readings for next class, with questions
Cox, handout excerpts from The Secular City (11pp)
1.    Ques: what are the three forms of desacralization Cox finds in Old Testament thought
2.    Ques:  cite lines that indicate an "outward" approach.
Robinson, excerpt from Honest to God, 1963 (4pp), "Wordly Holiness"  (picture at the right)
3.    Ques:  briefly define or describe "worldly holiness"
Cox in Baum, ch. 11, recanting about secularization. (8pp)
4.    Ques: what does Cox think is the most significant indicator of future trends in religion?

Mon. Jan 21  MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY.  No classes

Wed. Jan 23
Discuss Cox and secularization.  Topic:  Can religion and the secular be reconciled?
Prelectio:  Catholic responses to modernity.

Readings for next class
Schreiter in Baum, Ch. 13., on Vatican II . (14pp)
1.    Ques: In what ways does Vatican II theology differ from that of Pius IX and X?
2.    Ques: How does that fit with the difference between “inward” and “outward” theology?
[Dignitatis Humanae excerpt (2pp)]
Tracy:  excerpt from 1975 book, Blessed Rage for Order.  (2pp)
3.    Ques:  cite lines/ideas to identify Tracy as either inward or outward
      [BIBLIOGRAPHIES FOR PAPER DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY.]

Mon., Jan 28
Discuss Vatican II as a mixed Catholic "outwardness."  Topic:  'Secular' Catholicism??
Prelectio:  Protestant Fundamentalism as a response to modernity

Readings for next class
Hargrove on fundamentalism.
1.     Ques:  What does she see as the underlying motivations behind fundamentalism?
2.     Ques:  what does Hargrove think is now coming to dominate our culture?
Jones (1p) + Patterson (3pp) on Fundamentalism
3.    Ques:  what does it mean to say that fundamentalism is "reactive"?
4.    Ques:  what does it mean to say that fundamentalism is "dualistic"?
5.    Ques:  can you identify anything about Islamic fundamentalism that is "outward"?

Wed. Jan 30
Discuss Protestant Fundamentalism as a response to modernity.
      HAND IN BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR YOUR PAPER
Prelectio:  Islamic 'fundamentalisms" as responses to modernity

Readings for next class
Juergensmeyer on 2 kinds of muslim theology (4pp)
1.  Ques. What is his understanding of how the Enlightenment affected religion?
2.  Ques. What has happened to the idea of “secular nationalism” in the world?
The Economist on Saudi Islam and the monarchy (6pp):
3.  Ques What is the position of the sahwa movement?
Wright on Islam and democracy
4.  Ques: what is Saroush’s position on democracy?
5.  Ques. What is Ghannouchi’s position on democracy?

Mon, Feb 4,
Discuss readings on Islam.  Topic:  inward v. outward??
Next class:  Exam #1.  Review part I of course today.
Brief prelectio on anthropological approaches to religion

For Monday, Feb. 11: Readings from Pals & excerpts from original sources.
Pals: Ch. 1 on Tylor and Frazer. You may skip pp. 39-45 (ca. 24 pp).
Questions re Pals ch. 1 (brief answers will do):
1.  What was Max Müller’s theory of the origin of Indo-European religion?
2.  What is the difference between philology and ethnology?
3.  What does Tylor mean by the word “animism”? For example? (top picture at the right)
4.  To Tylor what is the relation between animism and modern science?
5.  How does Frazer differ from Tylor on the relation between religion and magic? (lower picture at the right)
6.  From the section called “Analysis” list items on which Tylor and Frazer agree.
7.  From the “Critique” section describe the 3 criticisms directed against the theories of Tylor and Frazer
Prelectio on Anthropological approaches to religion

Wed. Feb 6.  Exam #1   Exam question.
Discuss the varied reactions of religious leaders and thinkers to the emergence of “scientific” approaches to religion as part of the development of "modernity."
Include the following in your discussion: 1) the major values of the Enlightenment ("modernity"); 2) how deism reflects Enlightenment values and how Schleiermacher responded to deism; 3) the general difference between inward and outward responses to modernity; 4) the nature of the historical-critical method in scripture interpretation, and reasons given in the readings why this is dangerous ; 5) the type of responses of the Popes in the late 19th and early 20th century, with some illustrations; 6) problems from the close relation of theologians to their cultural and/or social context exmplified before World War I;  7) the different responses of Cox in the 1960s and Milbank in the 1990s to the secular; 8) how Vatican II and Cox in 2000 see the near future of religion in a secular world; 9) illustrations of how the response of EITHER Christian fundamentalism OR salafist Islam is similar to or different from any of these other responses (inward or outward, modern or pre-modern or anti-modern).
OR:  Devise an interesting question that requires that you review, explain, & interrelate the materials of the first part of this course.

Part II:  Anthropology, religious studies, and theology.
Theories of the nature of religion, of primitive religion, with theological responses.
Basic issue throughout: can religion be “reduced” entirely to some purely natural causes?

Mon. Feb. 11
Discuss Exams
Discuss Tylor, Frazer  Topic:  issues about anthropological approaches to religion
Pre-lectio on Nuer and Kwoth and issues concerning "primitive" religion.

Readings for next class: Pals, ch. 7, on Evans-Pritchard (you may skip 239 - 244) (24pp)
Handout from EvansPritchard:  read 344, 346-348 (the rest is just in case you want details)
   There are no questions for the 4x6 cards on this handout; but you can use it for the exam.
Topic: Still on the nature of religion, primitive religion, the evolution of religion.
Questions to guide your reading (very brief answers on the 4 x 6 cards will suffice):
1. What is E-P’s attitude toward theories of cultural evolution? What reasons does he give?
2. How does Levy-Bruhl characterize primitive thought?
4. What does E-P think about the intelligence of the Azande? (picture at the right)
5. Does the Nuer notion of soul fit with Tylor’s theory?
6. What is the difference between group rites and personal sacrifices?
7. How does E-P criticize reductionist and evolutionary theories of religion?
8. Analysis section: what does it mean to say that E-P shows belief in magic can be rational?
9. Critique section: How does Pals criticize E-P’s use of the “if I were a horse” argument;
and how does Pals suggest there is indeed a “primitive” mind?

Wed. Feb. 13
Discuss Evans-Pritchard.  Topic:  still on issues about anthropologies of religion
Pre-lection on "experience of the sacred" in Schleiermacher and others.

For next class read Pals, ch. 6, on Eliade (you may skip pp.  206--213.5)
    Be ready to discuss the difference between the sacred and profane.
Questions to guide your reading:
1. What are Eliade’s two basic axioms? Explain what they mean.
2. In what ways does Eliade agree with Otto on the nature of religion?
3. What is the role of reason in the use of symbol and myth, according to Eliade?
4. What does it mean to say that Judaism made religion historical? [recall Cox].
5. What is “historicism” according to Eliade
6. Analysis section: does Eliade praise or condemn “archaic” thought? Explain.
7. Critique section: How precise and consistent is Eliade in defining “sacred”?

Mon. Feb. 18
Discuss Eliade.  Topic: A “phenomenological” respect for religion.
Next class shifts from anthropological to sociological interpretations of religion.

For next class read Pals Ch. 3 on Durkheim  (pp. 95-103, 107-114)
    (You do not have to read the handout on Durkheim; it is optional)
Focus on this issue:  what is the totem a symbol of?  I will ask this in class.
Questions to guide your reading:
1.  Describe Durkheim’s theory of the role of the totem in Australian Aboriginal society.
2.  Analysis section: Why can it be said that Durkheim is a functionalist?
3.  Critique section: What evidence from anthropology conflicts with Durkheim’s ideas about the sacred and profane?
     Is Durkheim’s theory reductionist about religion?

Begin Part III of course:  sociological theories of religion

Wed. Feb 20 
Discuss Durkheim.  Topic:  whether Durkheim's approach is reductionistic
Read for next class:  handout from and on Berger; prelection: on Berger's theory

Questions to guide your reading
1.  What does Berger say is the "stuff" out of which society is made?
2.  In relation to Ch. 1, points d. and e., and Ch. 2. point f,  describe some specific social practice or rule today that at least some people would say God supports.
3.  In relation to Ch. 2. g.  in your own words define what is meant by "marginal situation."
4.  The "alienation" which Berger describes is in fact an alienation from one's own true selfhood, from one's own powers and talents.  Describe or illustrate what this means.  (See the next question for a hint.)
5.  In your own words explain why self-alienation prevents anomy.  (Berger picture at the right)

Mon. Feb. 25
Discuss Berger.  Topic:  religion against anomy; types of theodicies (with a handout); self-alienation.
For next class read  handout from Geertz.  (You may skip Pals' chapter on Geertz.)
Prelectio on Geertz and Barnes

1.  What is the rationalization of a religious tradition?
2.  According to Geertz, why are the Balinese Hindus rationalizing their tradition?
For next class also read the 6-page handout by Barnes
3.  What are the four major stages of culture according to Barnes (following Bellah and Parsons)
4.  Give a brief statement of the 3 different modes of religion that appear in the first three cultural stages
5.  Classify traditional and "rationalized" Balinese thought according to Barnes' categories.

Wed.  Feb 27
Discuss Geertz  Topic:  The implicit evolution stages from traditional to rationalized
Discuss Barnes.  Topic:  of those we have read so far, with whom does Barnes agree most?
Next class:  Discussion of "reductionism" and theological responses.  Review of materials for Exam #2.

Mon. March 3   
Discuss some non-reductionist alternatives.  Review for Exam #2.
Brief prelection:  Feuerbach and Marx

Reading FOR MONDAY MAR 10:   Pals, ch. 4, on Marx (skip 124-136, 148-152),
Excerpts from Feuerbach and Marx.  (see pictures at the right)
Topic: religion as an expression of self-alienation based on psychological needs.
Questions to guide your reading:
1. For Marx, what is the base of any society’s moral superstructure?
2. What does “ideology” mean?
3. To what does Feuerbach attribute belief in God? (See the excerpt also.)
4. According to Marx what does religion offer to the oppressed? (See the excerpt also.)
5. What does it mean to say that religion expresses human self-alienation?
6. Analysis section: explain how Marx’s ideas are a reductionistic functionalist approach.
7. Critique section: does Marx’s theory apply to primitive religion? If not, so what?

Wed.  March 5  EXAM #2  This exam covers both Part II and Part III.
Revised Question for Exam #2.
1. Describe the theories of each of the eight (Tylor and Frazer make 2) social theorists studied in this section of the course, providing enough specifics to show your familiarity with central aspects of their ideas. AND
2. Show how a theologian could either reject the skepticism implicit in any of them or find some way to use the ideas of a theorist in support of religion.
 

Part IV. Psychological Theories of Religion and Theological Responses.
Part V.  Political Theories of Religion and Theological Responses.

Part IV Psychology and Theology

Mon. Mar. 10  Discuss Exam #2
Discuss Feuerbach and Marx's ideas.  Topic: the plausibility of these reductionist accounts, and their critiques of the "experience of the sacred" theories of religion (Schleiermacher, Otto, Eliade).
Pre-lectio on Freud

For next class read Pals, Ch. 2, on Freud (you may skip 56-63 (on psychoanalysis) and 72-75 (Moses and Monotheism) )
     Read also excerpts from Freud (to be handed out in class)
Topic: what characteristics of the human psyche might account for religion?
Questions to guide your reading:
1. Briefly describe Freud’s explanation in Totem and Taboo of how religion originated.
2. Briefly describe Freud’ explanation in The Future of an Illusion of why people hold on to religion.
3. How does Freud differentiate between “illusion” and “delusion”?
4. Analysis:  Explain in your own words why Freud’s position is a functionalist reductionism.
5. Critique: What is the problem of circularity to which Pals points?

Wed.  Mar. 12
Discuss Freud and psychological reductionism: Topic:  plausibility of the reductionism in The Future of an Illusion.
Prelectio:  on empirical psychological studies of religion

For next class read: Reiss article; Handouts on Fowler; Haidt et al. on 5 moral motives
Topic: some empirical studies of religion and psychology.
Questions to guide your reading:
1. Summarize Reiss’ conclusion about what motivates religiousness in people.
    Comment on whether this shows that Freud was wrong.
2. Think of a current example for each of the five stages of faith of Fowler. (picture at right)
3. Compare Haidt's two motive groups to the "inward-outward" alternatives of Part I of the course.

Mon and Wed, Mar. 17 & 19 = Spring + Easter Break.

Mon.  Mar. 24 
[4:30 classes meet; but half of this class scheduled a return too late to attend class; so:  no class.]

Wed.  Mar. 26
Discuss readings on the empirical study of religion
Prelectio on religious responses to economic-social order and Marxism

For next class read: Baum, ch. 5 by Sweitzer.   Social Gospel handout.
Topic: various effects of Marxism in relation to theology: A Protestant instance.
Questions to guide your reading:
1. Explain what is meant by the “social gospel” and identify some major proponents. (Handout)
2. Ch. 5. What led Niebuhr to take a socialist position; what then led him to reject/modify it?
3. Ch. 5. In what way was the Canadian FCSO a response to Marx?
4. What critique did the FCSO offer of capitalist individualism?
5. How did Niebuhr and the FCSO differ on what can be hoped for in history

Part V.  of the course:  Political Theories of Religion and Theological Responses.

Mon.  Mar. 31
Papers due -- first draft.  Bring two copies, one for a peer-critic and one for Barnes.
Discuss chapter by Sweitzer and related handouts. Topic: religious involvement in economics and social order.
Prelectio on Liberation Theology in general

For next class read: Baum, ch. 9 by Elizondo.
Topic: other effects of Marxism on theology: Catholic liberation theologies.
Questions to guide your reading:
2. How good has the effect been of missionary activities, to the world and specifically to Latin America, according to Elizondo?
3. Sum up the impact of the Medellin conference of bishops in 1968.
4. Give an example of an issue of concern for the All India Seminar of 1969 and of an issue for the African General Synod of Evangelization of 1974.
5. Name something in religion that is distinctively “Asian” according to Elizondo.
6. What is good and what is bad about globalization, according to Elizondo? How should the Catholic Church deal with a plurality of cultures?

Wed.  Apr. 2
Discuss readings on L.A. Lib. Theo.  Topic:  Enlightenment themes in lib theo.
Pre-lectio on Feminist Theology as liberation theology

For next class read: Susan Ross in Baum, ch. 15.  Elizabeth Johnson excerpt, pp. 33-40.
Topic: changed social consciousness concerning women has lead to a change in theology
1. According to Ross what virtue did Valerie Saiving say women needed to develop, and why?
2. Briefly list the 4 “streams” of development in theology as part of the women’s movement.
3. In what ways did the women’s movement affect “theological anthropology”?
4. In her "critique of speech about God" what does Elizabeth Johnson say are the 3 major problems in the use of masculine images of God?
5. According to Johnson, "an idol comes into being" when something happens to images of God.  What is that something that happens? (See pp. 39-40 on this.)

Mon.  Apr. 7
The first part of he class will be spent on review of your draft. 
Each of you can begin with 10 minutes by yourself on the comments on your paper
Then meet with peer-critics to find ways to improve your paper.

Discuss Ross and Johnson. Topic:  The role of religion in influencing social values
[perhaps some pre-lectio on evolutionary psychology and religion, on handouts for next class]

Wed. April 9 -- STANDER SYMPOSIUM

Mon.  Apr 14 = Final version of paper due
Finish discussion of feminist theology. [If relevant, discuss evolutionary psychology handouts.]

Wed.  Apr. 16   Five student presentations based on the paper.  7-8 minutes each + 4 minutes each for discussion

Mon. Apr. 21  Five more presentations on the papers

Wed. Apr. 23.   Evaluation of course.   Review for Final Exam.

Final Exam, Mon. April 30, from 4:30 to 6:20.  On Parts IV and V of the course -- and Part I in part.
Part I:  Review of basics.  Both Marx and Freud interpret religion as a mistake that arises because of certain human conditions or needs. Explain the basic theories of each, including their dependence on Feuerbach, and show how they differ.  Describe the social gospel movement and the responses of both Niebuhr and the FCSO to it, as well as liberation theologies -- both Hispanic, as in Gutierrez, and feminist, as in Johnson. 
Part II:  Application of review to "inward" v. "outward" issue:  Discuss the degree to which various religious positions tend more to an outward or an inward approach, as in FCSO and Niebuhr, liberation theologies and feminist theologies.  (If you like you can use "Enlightenment" values instead of "inward" or "outward" to characterize these.  The purpose here is to come to recognize more clearly the conflicts among within religion on values such as individualism, human well-being in this world [secularism; hope for progress], rationalism, and universalist vs. local concerns.)
Part III:  Briefly argue for either the "inward" or the "outward" approach.  (You do not have to be strictly for or against; you can discuss the pros and cons, if you like.)
[You can do all three at once, if that suits you; or do Parts I and II together, adding Part III at the end.]
 

This page was last changed on April 7, 2008