ULTIMACY, DIVINITY AND NATURE OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY
ULTIMACY, DIVINITY AND NATURE OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY
METHODOLOGY
Read selected bibliography on the history of human understanding on the Ultimacy, and express the learning outcome by writing a paper on the subject.
OBJECTIVE
Comprehend the ‘history of God’ with reference to African religion, monotheism (Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha’i), Hinduism, Buddhism, pantheism, panentheism and process thought, and cosmic ecology.
OUTLINE
The Divine
Ultimacy: concepts of the Sacred, the Ultimate Reality, Divine, and other names.
The place of the Divine: Sacramental, Prophetic, Mystical religions
Discussed Attributes of the Ultimate Reality: Transcendence, Order, Personality,
Infinity, Aseity
Taxonomy of beliefs about deities
Theism
Monotheism: Plural Theism, Oneness
Bitheism: Ditheism, Dualism
Polytheism
Henotheism
Deism
Pantheism
Panentheism
Non-Theism
Atheism
Agnosticism
Historical Development
Earliest Traditions
Animism, Animatism, Shamanism
African Traditional Religions
Ancient Civilizations
Axial Age
Dharmic Traditions in India
Chinese Religions
Hebrew Monotheism
Iranian Zoroastrianism
Greek Philosophy
Christianity
Neo-Platonism and Gnosticism
Islam
Medieval Mysticism:
West
Eastern Orthodoxy
Sufi
Kabala
Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution
Spinoza
Hume
Kant
Deists: Voltaire, Jefferson, Hobbes
Romantic Response: Schleiermacher
Reform in Hinduism: Sikhism, Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj
Reform in Islam: Baha’i
Disbelief: Atheism, Materialism, Agnosticism, Naturalism, Positivism, Marxism
Contemporary Trends
Resurgence of the inquiry on the Ultimacy
Death of God Controversy
Postmodernism
French Post-Structuralism: Deconstructionism
Eco-Cosmic Mind
Process Thought
Finite Godism
Open Theism
Theism and Atheism in discussion: Dawkins
REFERENCES
· Armstrong, Karen. A History of God. New York: Ballantine, 2003.
· Dewy, John. A Common Faith. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1934.
· Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Harvest/HBJ Publishers, 1957.
· Feuerbach, Ludwig. The Essence of Christianity. New York: Harper, 1957.
· Forrest, Peter. God without the Supernatural. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996.
· Foster, John. The Divine lawmaker: lectures on Induction, Laws of Nature, and the Existence of God. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004.
· Geisler, Norman L.; House, H. Wayne; Herrera, Max. The Battle for God: Responding to the Challenge of Neotheism. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2001.
· Hughes, Glenn. Transcendence and History. The Search for Ultimacy from Ancient Societies to Postmodernity. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2003.
· James, William. Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Penguin, 1982.
· Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy. New York: Oxford University Press- USA, 2nd edition, 1958.
· Russell, Bertrand. Why I am not a Christian and Other Essays. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957.
· Schleiermacher, Friederich. On Religion. Transl. by John Oman. New York: Harper, 1958.
· Tillich, Paul. Ultimate Concern. London: SCM, 1965.
· Wach, Joachim. The History of Religions in Types of Religious Experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.
· Zock, Hetty. A Psychology of Ultimate Concern. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1990.