ULTIMACY, DIVINITY AND NATURE OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY

By Leonardo M. Alves

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, 2^nd 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.