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RELIGIONS OF THE WEST:

JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM

 

Religious Studies 002

Summer Session I, 1999

 

Sigrid Peterson, PhD

 petersig@ccat.sas. upenn.edu

Religious Studies

232 Logan Hall

215/552-8918 or 215/898-7453

Office hours by appointment

Course Home Page at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rs002

 

Helpful Links in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rs002/links.htm

 

Description

This course is an introduction to the three major religions that originated in the Middle East, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will be become acquainted with some of the sacred writings of each religion, especially where each has its own view of similar content. We will also compare some of the positions of these religions on common dimensions of religion, such as Authority, Scripture and Tradition, their Monotheistic beliefs, Worship and Ritual, and Ethics. We will be seeking to master details of each tradition, as expressed in special technical terms, and will also pull back at times to ask such questions as "How does each of these religions seek to transform its followers?"

Each student will need to own the following books:

1. The TaNaKh -- The sacred writings of Judaism, in the New JPS Translation; either the hardcover "Sacred Writings" edition available at the Pennsylvania Book Center, or the following paperback edition: [$9.95, hardback]

TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures, The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991). [$19.95, paperback]

2. The New Testament -- The sacred writings that are exclusively Christian

The New Revised Standard Version New Testament available at the Pennsylvania Book Center, 34th and Sansom Streets, University City.

3. Al-Qur'an -The sacred writings of Islam

Al-Qur'an: A Contemporary Translation by Ahmed Ali (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988).

Also available at the Pennsylvania Book Center, 34th and Sansom Streets, University City.

In addition, you may consult the following electronic translation, for times when you don't have Ali's translation with you. Al-Qur`an

4. Corrigan, J., Denny, F. M., Eire, C. M. N., and Jaffee, M. S. Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1998)

5. Corrigan, J., Eire, C. M. N., Denny, F. M., and Jaffee, M. S. Readings in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1998)

Also available at the Pennsylvania Book Center, 34th and Sansom Streets, University City.

Course Requirements

(Adapted from a syllabus created by Ross Kraemer)

1) attend class conscientiously. If religious observance requires you to miss class, please be sure to notify me well in advance. If you are sick, or have a personal emergency, please make every effort to notify me in advance, by email to petersig@ccat.sas.upenn.edu or else by phone to 215/898-7453. Regardless of the reasons, students who are absent should make every effort to do the reading and to obtain notes from the class(es) missed.

2) prepare for and participate in class. The success of a fairly small class depends on regular, informed, and thoughtful participation of all members. All students are expected to contribute constructively to the discussion on a regular basis. To do so, you will need to have done a significant portion of the assigned readings, and to have spent some time thinking about the material.

3) do the assignments. The readings for this class are not necessarily uniform in length; I anticipate that you will need 12 hours a week outside of class time in order to do the reading and other assignments.

4) take the quizzes. There will be weekly brief open-book quizzes on Tuesdays which will consist of either brief identifications or brief, five-minute essay questions that encourage you to think about the materials you have prepared.

5) prepare the final paper (8-10 page minimum). The final paper includes several tasks: a) preparation by negotiating the topic with me, probably via email; b) submitting either an abstract (paragraph description of the paper) or an outline of the way in which you plan to write it, and c) submitting the paper on time and correctly spelled with appropriate word usage, technical vocabulary, and correct grammar. This does *not* mean relying on Microsoft Word's Spellchecker and Grammarchecker. It *does mean using those tools to catch things you understand and just overlooked, and not changing anything you don't understand.

With individual permissions, I will post good papers to the class web site.

OR

5) take the final exam on the last day of class. In this case, the final exam will be three hours of nitpicking short answer identifications tapping technical vocabulary and historical understanding of all three religions. There may be an integrative question that is completely new to you, which will use those things you have learned as a basis for understanding and answering the question. There will be some choice of which items to answer.

The class will vote on which alternative they prefer at the end of the second week. If the chosen alternative turns out to be very hard for you to live with, then make an appointment with me right away, in the third week of class, and we will find an acceptable alternative.

Last updated June 2, 1999 by Sigrid Peterson, PhD

 

Continues as Course Outline