Original version: http://www2.bc.edu/~langerr/quest.htm
Syllabus for TH 161 Syllabus for TH 162
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Study of another religious tradition deepens one’s understanding of one’s own. The recognition of other traditions’ ways of thinking about the human religious experience encourages constructive reflection on issues formerly simply accepted as normal and universal. While this course makes no assumptions that students enrolled will be either Christian or Jewish, its primary goals are that the students will gain an appreciation of and knowledge about two specific expressions of these religions: Catholicism and traditional Judaism. Students who are Catholic or Jewish are encouraged to learn to think theologically about their own traditions and to challenge their thinking with the categories raised in discussing the other religion. Students of other religious traditions (or no religious background) are expected similarly to bring the categories of discussion into dialogue with their own faiths.
Judaism and Christianity present a unique case for comparison because their histories are so deeply intertwined. They are sister religions, both rooted in the traditions of ancient Israel and both developing their unique identities in late antiquity. Their sibling rivalry has frequently been fierce, resulting in frequent persecutions by the more powerful Christian community, culminating in the Holocaust. In the wake of the horrors of the Holocaust, most Christian communities, including the Catholic Church, have sought to redefine this competitive relationship to acknowledge the ongoing legitimacy of God’s covenant with the Jews and to repudiate the Church’s traditions of supersessionism and anti-Judaism. While this history forms a backdrop for the course, it will not be its focus. We will instead concentrate on fundamental points where these two traditions can be fruitfully compared.
THIS IS A TWO-SEMESTER COURSE. TO RECEIVE CORE CREDIT, YOU MUST TAKE BOTH SEMESTERS IN SEQUENCE!
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