Unit name | Living Religions West |
---|---|
Unit code | THRS10064 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Gethin |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Religion and Theology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Religious traditions represent significant expressions of cultural values: understanding the past and present states of the world is not possible without some knowledge of these traditions. This unit introduces the history, ideas and practices of the three religious traditions whose history is connected and which together have informed the religious understanding of Europe and the West, namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam. With reference to matters of ethics, thought, politics and law, the unit considers how the diverse ways these religions answer questions about the world and the place of human beings within it have shaped and continue to inform the way people, both individually and collectively, live their lives and seek to find meaning and purpose.
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
2 x one-hour lecture and one-hour seminar per week.
1x two-hour exam (100%) [ILOs 1–4]
• Hinnells, John R. (ed.), The Penguin Handbook of the World's Living Religions (2010)
• Smart, Ninian, The world's religions 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)
• Cohn-Sherbok, Dan, Judaism (London: Routledge, 1999).
• MacCulloch, Diarmaid, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (New York: Penguin, 2011).
• Rippin, Andrew, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 3rd ed. (London: Routledge, 2005).