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1. Discover and describe the complex evolution of Judaism and Islam
and their interaction with Christianity.
2. 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.
3. Analyze and evaluate persistent religious themes and controversies
within rival hermeneutics of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
4. Trace the historic and religious sources of contemporary values and
belief systems.
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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: Gnosticism
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
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1. Weekly reading assignments of between 20-50 pages
2. Reading reports 2-4 pages
3. 2-5 objective and/or essay exams
4. 2-5 objective and/or essay quizzes
5. A research paper of 5-7 pages
6. Optional field trips
7. Optional in-class exercises analytical interpretations; presentations, discussions or debates
8. Final exam (objective, essay, or a combination)
| Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing. | Writing
25 - 60% |
| Reading reports, essays and research papers | |
| Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills. | Problem Solving
10 - 25% |
| Analytical interpretations; In-class exercises, presentations, discussions or debates | |
| 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
20 - 40% |
| Multiple choice, true/false, matching items, completion, essay exams, text analysis | |
| Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories. | Other Category
0 - 10% |
| Classroom participation, optional: oral presentations, reports on interviews, museum visits, or field trips. | |
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Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their
Interpretation. F.E. Peters, 3 vols. Princeton, 1990 (Classic).
New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, 4th ed. 2010.
Al-Qur'an: A Contemporary Translation, Ahmed Ali 2001 (Classic).
The Evolution of God. Robert Wright. Little, Brown and Company, 2009.