Study of Religions with Various Professors

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Overview

In an increasingly globalized world, the plurality of religions is now a reality facing western and non-western Christians alike.  This concentration of courses is designed to help students to better minister in a pluralist world.  The three courses that make up the 2007-2008 sequence will introduce students to two major world religions, Islam and Hinduism, as well as the challenges of doing theology in a pluralist society. 

Course Sequence

Fall: MR550: Introduction to Islam. An overview of Muslim faith and practice, with special attention to comparisons with Christianity, varieties of expression, and their implication for Christian witness. Woodberry

Winter: ST523: Theological Challenges of Religious Plurality. Religious pluralism is currently, as it was also in the beginning of Christianity, the most predominant challenge to Christian theology and mission. After a survey of various approaches to pluralism, this course analyzes and critically dialogues with the views regarding pluralism of John Hick, and attempts to offer a viable Evangelical theology of pluralism. Karkkainen

Spring: MR543: Christian Witness in the Hindu World. This course seeks to provide an overview of 1) the Hindu World, 2) Hinduism's globalization, 3) its relationship to Christianity in the Indian Sub-continent, 4) Christian evangelization attempts in the past, 5) various contextual questions arising, and 6) proposals for finding a new way forward. Exposure to the Hindu missionary effort and to indigenous religious communication methodologies is encouraged with a view to finding contextual approaches for articulating the Christian message in the Hindu/South Asian context. Hedlund