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Religion 11 Introduction to Religion: Buddhism, Christianity, and Society Fall 2007 MW 12:30 – 1:50 Chapin 201 Professors: Robert Doran, Chapin 206 542-2338; [email protected] Office hours: Wed. 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., or by appointment Maria Heim, Chapin 207 542-8475; [email protected] Office hours: Mon. 3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. Wed. 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. or by appointment Course Description This course offers an initial exposure to the methods, aims, and results of the academic study of religion. The course familiarizes students with the basic history and doctrines of two major religious traditions (Buddhism and Christianity), and focuses on a theme that can be productively explored in relation to both traditions: the relation between religion or religious communities and the societies and cultures in which they find themselves. Both Buddhism and Christianity contain, in their textual sources and early histories, rich and sometimes conflicting resources for construing and constructing this relationship. Both traditions began with charismatic founders who established small followings of committed disciples. These early sectarian movements often found themselves at odds with the larger social and political orders of which they were a part. But with time both traditions became the official religions of empires, and eventually came to extend across national, cultural and historical boundaries, taking on different forms in different locations. This course explores ways in which both of these traditions have found themselves in various and contrasting relationships with the social, economic, and political institutions of their respective historical and cultural contexts. In particular, in what ways have Buddhist and Christian communities defined themselves in opposition to the world, in harmony with it, as transforming it, or as transcending it? How might these patterns be studied comparatively to deepen our understanding of these traditions and, more generally, the role of religion in human life? 1 Course Materials The following textbooks are required for the course and available at the Jeffrey Amherst Bookstore. They are also available on reserve at Frost Library. In the Buddha’s Words, by Bhikkhu Bodhi Christianity, by Brian Wilson Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, by Randall Baumer When Time Shall Be No More, by Paul Boyer Sacred Canopy, by Peter Berger In addition to the textbooks, a required course reader will be available for purchase at the Religion Department (Chapin 108). Expectations • Students are expected to attend all class sessions and read all assigned readings prior to class. Please print off the readings on blackboard and bring them to class. Class sessions will supplement readings, not be a replacement for them. • Students will be assigned: one short paper (3-4 pages) in the first weeks of class and three slightly longer papers (4-5 pages). There will also be a final project. After consultation with the professors, in the first three weeks of the semester, the students will undertake to research some particular area where religion and the public sphere interact. Over the course of the semester, the students will gather materials pertaining to this focused topic, will make a brief (5 minute) report on their findings to the class, and write it up in 10-12 pages. Schedule of Class Meetings Introduction and Origin Wed. Sept. 5: Course Overview Mon. Sept. 10: The Study of Religion Berger, The Sacred Canopy, 3-53 Wed. Sept 12: The Study of Religion Bellah, “Civil Religion in America” (course reader) Introduction and Historical Overview Mon. Sept. 17 What is Buddhism? “Buddhist Religion, Culture, and Civilization,” by Reynolds and Hallisey (course reader) “The Buddha,” Reynolds and Hallisey (course reader) Wed. Sept. 19: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha Bodhi, In the Buddha’s Words, 43-78 2 Mon. and Wed. Sept. 24-26: Fri. Sept. 28: What is Christianity? Wilson, Christianity, 18-81 First Paper Due Out of This World Mon. Oct. 1: Buddhist Cosmology: the Cosmos, Samsara, and the Human Condition Bodhi, 19-40 Gethin, 183-187 (course reader) Wed. Oct. 3: Buddhist Cosmogony: A Myth of Origins Bodhi, 145-179, 218-220 “The Evolution of the World” (Agganna Sutta, handed out in class) Oct. 6-9: Mid-Semester Break Wed. Oct. 10: Time, the Future, and the Coming of the Buddha Maitreya “The Lion’s Roar on the Turning of the Wheel” (course reader) Mon. Oct. 15: Christian Scriptural Readings Daniel 7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Gospel of Mark 9:1; 13; Revelation 17-22 (Blackboard) Wed. Oct. 17: Apocalypticism in History Apocalypse! PBS Video Fri. Oct. 19: Second Paper Due Mon. Oct. 22: 20th Century U.S. Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More, 115-292 In and Out of This World Wed. and Mon. Oct. 24, 29: Wed. Oct. 31: Buddhist Monasticism “The Bhikkhu’s Rules” (Blackboard) Choice for a Chinese Woman (short in-class film) Christian Monasticism “Rule of St. Benedict” (Blackboard, external link) 3 Mon. Nov. 5: Biography of Thomas Merton Fri. Nov. 9: Third Paper Due In This World Wed. and Mon. Nov. 7, 12: Early Christian Views Romans 13; 1 Peter 2:11-3:7 Revelation 12-13 (Blackboard, course documents) Eusebius of Caesarea, Ambrose of Milan, Augustine of Hippo Thomas Aquinas (Blackboard, course documents) Wed. Nov. 14: Baumer, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory Nov. 17-25: Thanksgiving Break Mon. Nov. 26: Buddhist Statecraft: The Paradigm of the Righteous Buddhist King “A Bloodless Sacrifice” (course reader) “Temiya, the Mute Prince” (course reader) Bodhi, 107-142 Wed. Nov. 28: King Ashoka, King Dutugamanu, and Modern Buddhist Political Orders Asokan edicts (Blackboard) “Buddhist Visions of Moral Authority and Modernity in Burma,” Juliana Schober (course reader) Mon. Dec. 3: Buddhist Social and Political Movements Today: Soka Gakkai The Soka Gakkai: Buddhism and the Creation of a Harmonious and Peaceful Society,” Metraux (course reader) “Earthly Desires are Enlightenment” (Blackboard) Wed. Dec. 5: Jesus Camp Video Fri. Dec. 7: Fourth Paper Due Mon. and Wed. Dec. 10-12: Class Presentations 4