| IV
continued. The problem of evil and suffering |
| For this date |
Reading to do |
Things to do |
Submit Deadline |
| Mon. 3/17 |
No new reading. Please bring Markham's
text to class. |
Think about the question whether the presence of
evil and suffering proves that the Christian conception of God is wrong. |
-- |
| Wed. 3/19 |
Markham, Chapter 5 |
Write one page or less on why you agree or
disagree with Markham's claim that no theodicy is convincing. |
Wed. 3/19 |
| Machina on Leibniz' response to the problem of
evil and suffering, found here. |
Think: does Leibniz give an adequate response to
the problem? |
-- |
| V.
Jesus as Savior. Philosophical problems with the most popular
conception of how Jesus saves. Can this traditional Christian idea
make sense? |
| For this date |
Reading to do |
Things to do |
Submit Deadline |
| Mon. 3/24 |
Machina "A Bare-Bones Account of Jesus' Life"
available here. |
Read this first. Make note of any
questions or objections you want to raise in class. |
-- |
| Markham, 131- top 143. |
For each of the 4 "theories" of "atonement" that
Markham presents, write out answers to each of the first 4 questions found
on this study guide.
Also, print out a blank copy of the study guide and bring it to class. |
Mon. 3/24 |
| Wed. 3/26 |
Alison, "Some Thoughts on the Atonement" -- at
least through the paragraph that begins with "The identification is
complete". Available
here. |
These readings attempt to develop in
detail how the "sacrifice" conception of Jesus' death might be understood.
Using the study guide from last time, try to complete all the remaining
questions on the guide, with respect to the sacrifice conception of Jesus'
atonement for sin, as understood by Barker-Alison. |
Wed. 3/26 |
| Machina, supplementary thoughts from Margaret
Barker, here. |
| Mon. 3/31 |
Marcus Borg, "Executed by Rome...", available
here. |
Follow the study guide found
here. Also, look
here for a summary of the sacrifice conceptualization. |
Mon. 3/31 |
| Wed. 4/2 |
Eleonore Stump, "Atonement According to Aquinas"
available
here. We will
discuss just the first 10 pages. |
Follow the study guide found
here. |
Wed. 4/2 |
| Essay #2 will be due 4/9. Instructions and
topics are found here. |
Essay 4/9 |
| VI.
Souls and Heaven. Can grandma really be up there looking down on you?
|
| For this date |
Reading to do |
Things to do |
Submit deadline |
| Mon. 4/7 |
2 brief excerpts from the New Testament.
Click
here. |
Read. |
-- |
| Markham, Chapter 12 |
Use this study
guide. It would probably work best to read the study guide first. |
Mon. 4/7 |
| Wed. 4/9 |
Badham, "Naturalistic Case for Extinction",
found
here. |
Read. |
Essay is due. |
| Corcoran, "Physical Persons and Postmortem
Survival" found
here. |
Note: an "anthropological physicalist" is one
who denies dualism, claiming that people are physical beings. |
| Mon. 4/14 |
Hick, "Resurrection of the Person" found
here. |
Hick is here proposing that physical
resurrection is conceptually coherent. He is not providing evidence
that it will actually occur. |
Quiz in class 4/14. Final exam due
5/8. |
| Borg, "Born Again" found
here. |
A proposal for how resurrection can be understood
metaphorically. |
| |
You are urged to begin work on the final exam, to
avoid a crunch later. |
| VII. The
problem of other religious traditions. Why Christian doctrines pull in
two opposing directions on this topic.
|
| For this date |
Reading to do |
Things to do |
Submit deadline |
| Wed. 4/16 |
Hick, "Conflicting Truth Claims of Different
Religions" found
here. |
Read this short piece as an introduction to the
issues, then read the Machina piece for more details. |
-- |
| Machina "The Problem of Other Religions" found
here. |
Decide which of the positions described in this
reading makes the most sense to you, and be prepared to give reasons why. |
-- |
| Mon. 4/21 |
Ariarajah, "Towards a Theology of Dialog", found
here. |
Here's a study
guide with some questions to answer. Don't forget to plan ahead about
completing your final exam and last essay. |
Mon. 4/21 |
| Wed. 4/23 |
Küng,
"The Challenge of the World Religions", found
here. |
Write: Is Küng
proposing that Jesus play no role in bringing people into harmony with God?
What would he say about Buddhist salvation that really doesn't see that God
is relevant? |
Wed. 4/23 |
|
Here
are the instructions for the last essay. |
Essay due 5/8 |
| Mon. 4/28 |
Hick, "Religious Pluralism and Salvation" found
here, and "The Metaphor of God Incarnate", found
here. |
Refer back to Machina, "The Problem of Other
Religions" from 4/16. Which ones of the six numbered items of
Christian theology mentioned there does Hick give up, and why? |
Mon. 4/28 |
| Wed. 4/30 |
Review as needed. |
Work on the final exam and last essay.
Class will be about these. The complete final
exam is found here. |
Exam and essay due 5/8 |
| |
To submit your final exam and third
essay, send them by e-mail, or turn in hard copies to me in person. I
will send out an e-mail in advance, telling everyone when I will be
in my office to receive hard copy. I will reply by e-mail when I receive your work
by e-mail, so if
you don't get a reply within a day after you believe you have submitted it,
something has gone wrong. |
| The final exam is a
do-at-home exam. It is due 5/8 at 2 pm., along with Essay 3. Grades will not be available until the following
week, since it takes many hours to read all this. |
|
Congratulations to those graduating. Others,
have a good break between
semesters. Keep safe. |
