Course canceled due to instructor illness
Expanded description: The class will focus on sustained class discussion of questions raised in the assigned readings, often initiated by mini-lectures and all prompted by emailed questions and suggestions. The two books for the course are Wilfrid Cantwell Smith’s The Meaning and End of Religion and Paul Tillich’s The Dynamics of Faith. Both may be purchased on bookfinder.com, Smith for as little as $8.21 used and Tillich for as little as $3.85 used or $11.99 new.
Schedule:
Session 1 Smith, Introduction (pp. 1-14) and ‘Religion’ in the West (pp. 15-50)
Session 2 Smith, Other Cultures. ‘The Religions’ (pp. 51-79)
Session 3 Smith, Is the Concept Adequate? (pp. 119-53) and The Cumulative Tradition (pp. 154-69)
Session 4 Smith, Faith (pp. 170-92) and Conclusion (pp. 193-202)
Session 5 Tillich, What Faith Is (pp. 1-29)
Session 6 Tillich, What Faith Is Not (pp. 30-40) and Symbols of Faith (pp. 41-54)
Session 7 Tillich, Types of Faith (pp. 55-73) and The Truth of Faith (pp. 74-98)
Session 8 Tillich, The Life of Faith (pp. 99-125) and Conclusion (pp. 126-27)