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REL 290

Topics in Religion

Topics such as religious phenomena, e.g., Millenialism, religious ethics and historical religious figures and movements. May be repeated for credit with different topics.

Distribution Area Prerequisites Credits
1 course

Current Semester Information

Harvey Stark

290A: Tps: Islam in U.S.


Leslie James

290B: Tps:Wis, Parables, Jesus

Tps:Wisdom & The Parables of Jesus

The course focuses on the parables of Jesus in relationship to their socio-historical context and Jesus' central proclamation. The parables, which had multiple functions, oriented Jesus' listeners to his proclamation or message. Doctrinal interpretations of Jesus' life and ministry were based on interpretations of the parables that belonged to Jesus' cultural heritage, its wisdom tradition, as well as that of the Ancient Near East, and the Greco-Roman world. Jesus used parables in interesting ways by grounding them in the everyday life of his hearers and interlocutors. Major goals of the course include getting students to know the parables, to understand their relationship to Jesus' teaching, to appreciate the power of the parables in relation to Jesus' world, and ways in which they are drawn on today.