12/21/2024 5:56:11 AM	RELS 3 Course Outline as of Fall 2019	Changed Course
CATALOG INFORMATION
Discipline and Nbr:  RELS 3	Title:  HISTORY OF GOD
Full Title:  History of God
Last Reviewed:1/28/2019

Units		Course Hours per Week			Nbr of Weeks	Course Hours Total
Maximum	3.00	Lecture Scheduled	3.00		17.5 max.	Lecture Scheduled	52.50
Minimum	3.00	Lab Scheduled	0		6 min.	Lab Scheduled	0
		Contact DHR	0			Contact DHR	0
		Contact Total	3.00			Contact Total	52.50
		Non-contact DHR	0			Non-contact DHR Total	0

Total Out of Class Hours:  105.00

Total Student Learning Hours: 157.50

Title 5 Category:  AA Degree Applicable
Grading:  Grade or P/NP
Repeatability:  00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
Also Listed As: 
Formerly:  HUMAN 10.3

Catalog Description:

The origins and evolution of monotheism from ancient Egypt and Canaan, through ancient Israel and its variations in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Prerequisites/Corequisites:

Recommended Preparation:
Course Completion of RELS 1 and Course Completion of ENGL C1000 ( or ENGL 1A)

Limits on Enrollment:

Schedule of Classes Information
Description:

The origins and evolution of monotheism from ancient Egypt and Canaan, through ancient Israel and its variations in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

(Grade or P/NP)
Prerequisites:
Recommended:Course Completion of RELS 1 and Course Completion of ENGL C1000 ( or ENGL 1A)
Limits on Enrollment:
Transfer Credit:CSU;UC.
Repeatability:00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP

ARTICULATION, MAJOR, and CERTIFICATION INFORMATION

Associate Degree:		Effective:	Fall 1983	Inactive:
Area:	E	Humanities
CSU GE:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
	C2	Humanities		Fall 1983
IGETC:	Transfer Area			Effective:	Inactive:
	3B	Humanities		Fall 1981
CSU Transfer:	Transferable	Effective:	Fall 1983	Inactive:
UC Transfer:	Transferable	Effective:	Fall 1983	Inactive:
C-ID:

Certificate/Major Applicable: Major Applicable Course

COURSE CONTENT

Student Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

1.  Explain texts of Jewish, Christian and Islamic scripture in terms of their historical and

     social context, and relationship with the indigenous religions of the Ancient Near East.

2.  Use the vocabulary of critical scholarship to evaluate the monotheistic religions' claims,

     rituals and narratives.

3.  Demonstrate a sensitive and detailed understanding of the diversity within and among

     the monotheistic religious traditions.

Objectives:

1. Discover and describe the complex evolution of Judaism and Islam

    and their interaction with Christianity.

2. Discover and describe the internecine conflicts and variations in the histories of Judaism,

     Christianity and Islam.

3. Identify sources for specific religious concepts, stories and rituals in the monotheistic religions

    in Egyptian, Canaanite, Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Iranian indigenous religions.

4. Identify seminal thinkers within the context of the course and the unique characteristics of  

     their thought within the  historic circumstances and literary understandings of their own time.

5. Analyze and evaluate persistent religious themes and controversies within rival hermeneutics

    of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

6. Trace the historic and religious sources of contemporary values and belief systems.

Topics and Scope

I.   The Ancient Near Eastern Origins of "Western" or "Monotheistic" Religions

    A. Egyptian "monotheism" under Akhenaten

    B. The Divine Council of the autochthonous Canaanites

II.  The Evolution and Diversity of Pre-Exilic Israelite Religion

    A. Yahwistic monolatry

    B. Polytheism and syncretism in Biblical Israel

III. The Emergence of Judaism After the Exile

    A. The evolution of rabbinic Judaism: temple to Torah

    B. Hellenistic Judaism: allegorizing the God of Torah

    C. Other sects and movements such as the Essenes, apocalyptic

    D. The development of the sacred texts: Tanak, Mishnah, Talmuds and Midrashim

IV. The Origins and Early Development of Christianity

    A. The diversity of early Jesus movements

    B. Orthodoxy and heresy: for example, Gnosticism, Arianism, Ebionitism, Modalism

    C. Rival Jewish and Christian hermeneutics

    D. Christian apologetics and polemics

    E. The triumph of orthodoxy under Constantine and his successors

    F. The Ecumenical Councils: the Trinity and Christology

    G. The establishment of the papacy and East-West conflict

V.  The Origins and Early Development of Islam

    A. The Arabian context

    B. Muhammad and the Quran, thoroughgoing monotheism

    C. The evolution of Muhammad's prophetic career: Mecca to Medina and back

    D. The Rashidun: first four Caliphs and success of Islam's conquest

    E. The Hadith: the evolution of tradition and Muslim practice

    F. The Sufis and the relationship between mysticism and orthodoxy

    G. The House of Islam as empire: the sharia, education, science and culture

    H. The dhimmis: Jews and Christians under Islam

VI. The Middle Ages: Interaction and Conflict

    A. The Crusades

    B. The Inquisition

    C. The God of the philosophers: scholasticism and the sharing of scholarship in

          Maimonides, Ibn Rushd and Thomas

    D. Theological interaction with the Renaissance

VII.  The Protestant Reformation

VIII. The Enlightenment: Science and Historical-Critical Biblical Scholarship

    A. The trial of Galileo

    B. The excommunication of Spinoza

IX. Modernity and the Rise of Fundamentalisms and Ultra-Orthodoxy

X.  Contemporary Issues such as Ecology, Economic Policy, and Social Justice

Assignments:

1. Weekly reading assignments of between 20 and 50 pages

2. Exams (2 - 5)

3. Quizzes (0 - 10)

4. One to three essays or response papers of 500-1000 words

5. A research paper of 1500-2000 words

6. Final exam (objective, essay, or a combination)

7. Optional: oral presentations, reports on interviews, museum visits, or field trips

Methods of Evaluation/Basis of Grade.

Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing.		Writing 30 - 60%
1-3 papers: essays, response papers, or textual analysis
Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills.		Problem Solving 0 - 0%
None
Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams.		Skill Demonstrations 0 - 0%
None
Exams: All forms of formal testing, other than skill performance exams.		Exams 25 - 50%
Quizzes and exams, multiple choice, true/false, matching items, completion, essay exams, text analysis. Final exam (objective, essay or a combination)
Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories.		Other Category 10 - 20%
Classroom participation, optional: oral presentations, reports on interviews, museum visits, or field trips

Representative Textbooks and Materials:

New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha. 5th ed. 2018

 

God: A Human History. Aslan, Reza. Penguin Random House. 2017

 

Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict. Norenzayan, Ara. Princeton University Press. 2015

 

The Evolution of God. Wright, Robert. Back Bay Books. 2009 (classic)

 

Al-Qur'an: A Contemporary Translation. Ali, Ahmed. Princeton University Press. 2001 (classic)

 

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation (3 volumes). Peters, F.E. Princeton University Press. 1990 (classic)

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