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Revealing^® Western Religions

Version 4.0

Copyright © 2001-2011 Thinking Strings, LLC

Table of Contents

Exploring Religion

What is Religion?

• Goals: What is Religion?
• Religion & Religions
• One Reality or Many?
• Defining Religion
• Theoretical, Practical, Sociological
• Religious Specialists
• Religious Syncretism
• Summary: What is Religion?

Types of Religions

• Goals: Types of Religions
• Eastern & Western Religions
• Families of Religions
• Ethnic & Universal
• Theisms
• The Ineffable
• Atheism & Agnosticism
• Summary: Types of Religions
• Try It: Types of Religions

Studying Religion

• Goals: Studying Religion
• Why Is There Religion?
• Functionalism
• Theorists of Religion
• Ways to Study Religion
• Belief & Unbelief
• Why Study Religion?
• The Religious Quest
• Summary: Studying Religion
• Try It: Studying Religion

Judaism

Basic Principles of Judaism

• Goals: Basic Principles of Judaism
• Monotheism in Judaism
• Iconoclasm in Judaism
• The Chosen People
• An Ethnic Religion
• The Sacred in History
• Orthopraxis
• Jewish Theology
• 13 Principles of Faith
• Summary: Basic Principles of Judaism
• Try It: Basic Principles of Judaism

Cultural Context of Judaism

• Goals: Cultural Context
• A Minority Religion
• Anti-Semitism
• Ghettoes
• Jews & Banking
• Blood Libel
• The Holocaust
• Warsaw Ghetto
• Survival of the Jewish People
• Summary: Cultural Context
• Try It: Cultural Context

Hebrew Scriptures

• Goals: Hebrew Scriptures
• Hebrew Bible
• Torah
• Prophets & Writings
• Talmud
• Midrash
• Mishnah
• Gemara
• Page from the Talmud
• Study, Learning, & Debate
• Summary: Hebrew Scriptures
• Try It: Hebrew Scriptures

Ancient History of Judaism

• Goals: Ancient History of Judaism
• A Herding People
• Judaism & the Creation of the World
• Covenant with Abraham
• Jacob & His Sons
• Jewish Patriarchs
• The Exodus
• Kingdom of Israel
• Second Temple Period
• The Diaspora
• Summary: Ancient History of Judaism
• Try It: Ancient History of Judaism

The Jewish Diaspora

• Goals: The Jewish Diaspora
• From Temple to Synagogue
• Judaism Under the Roman Empire
• Sephardim
• Matriliny
• Ashkenazim
• Kabbalah
• Shabbatai Tzvi
• Hasidim
• Beginnings of Reform Judaism
• Summary: The Jewish Diaspora
• Try It: The Jewish Diaspora

Judaism in America

• Goals: Judaism in America
• Jewish Migration to America
• Reform Judaism
• Orthodox Judaism
• Conservative Judaism
• Reconstructionist Judaism
• Intermarriage
• Summary: Judaism in America
• Try It: Judaism in America

The State of Israel

• Goals: The State of Israel
• State of Israel
• Theodor Herzl
• Proposed Zionist Homelands
• Jewish Immigration to Palestine
• Creation of the State of Israel
• State of Israel Today
• Tensions Within Israel
• Population of Israel
• Western Wall
• Summary: The State of Israel
• Try It: The State of Israel

Jewish Practice

• Goals: Jewish Practice
• Jewish Prayer
• Dressing for Prayer
• Sh'ma
• Shabbat
• Reading the Torah
• Laws of Kashrut
• Levels of Jewish Observance
• Summary: Jewish Practice
• Try It: Jewish Practice

Jewish Holidays

• Goals: Jewish Holidays
• The Jewish Calendar
• High Holy Days
• Major Jewish Holidays
• Passover
• Shavuot & Sukkot
• Simchat Torah
• Hanukkah
• Purim
• Commemorative Holidays
• Summary: Jewish Holidays
• Try It: Jewish Holidays

Jewish Rites of Passage

• Goals: Jewish Rites of Passage
• Brit Milah
• Baby Namings
• Bar & Bat Mitzvah
• Jewish Weddings
• Mourning
• Summary: Jewish Rites of Passage
• Try It: Jewish Rites of Passage

Women in Judaism

• Goals: Women in Judaism
• Judaism as a Male-Dominated Religion
• Matriarchs & Heroines
• Women's Role in Judaism
• Niddah
• Marriage & Divorce in Judaism
• Women Rabbis
• Jewish Feminism
• Summary: Women in Judaism
• Try It: Women in Judaism

Christianity

Jesus

• Goals: Jesus
• Jesus's Early Life
• Social Context for Jesus's Life
• Jesus's Birth
• What Jesus Taught
• Jesus as a Jew
• God, Jesus's Father
• Jesus's Ministry
• Jesus's Crucifixion
• Jesus's Resurrection & Ascension
• Summary: Jesus
• Try It: Jesus

Early Christianity

• Goals: Early Christianity
• Jesus Movement as a Jewish Sect
• Paul
• The Gentiles
• Doctrine of the Atonement
• Early Spread of Christianity
• Summary: Early Christianity
• Try It: Early Christianity

Christian Scriptures

• Goals: Christian Scriptures
• Old Testament
• New Testament
• Establishment of the Canon
• The Gospels
• The Synoptic Gospels
• John
• The Acts of the Apostles
• The Epistles
• The Book of Revelation
• Summary: Christian Scriptures
• Try It: Christian Scriptures

After the Fall of Rome

• Goals: After the Fall of Rome
• Under the Roman Empire
• Gnosticism
• The Religion of the Empire
• Augustine
• Wrestling Over Christian Doctrine
• The Byzantine Empire
• First Schism in Christianity
• Catholicism & Eastern Orthodoxy
• Christian Monasticism
• Summary: After the Fall of Rome
• Try It: After the Fall of Rome

Medieval Christianity

• Goals: Medieval Christianity
• Medieval Monasticism
• The Virgin Mary
• Christian Pilgrimage
• The Crusades
• The Inquisition
• The Muslim Triumph
• Cultural Impact of the Crusades
• Thomas Aquinas
• On the Eve of Reformation
• Summary: Medieval Christianity
• Try It: Medieval Christianity

The Protestant Reformation

• Goals: Protestant Reformation
• Martin Luther
• Luther's Theology
• The Lutheran Church
• John Calvin
• Double Predestination
• Henry VIII, King of England
• The Radical Reformation
• Witchcraft Persecutions
• The Catholic Reformation
• Summary: Protestant Reformation
• Try It: Protestant Reformation

Christian Practices

• Goals: Christian Practices
• Diversity of Christian Practices
• Sacraments
• Baptism
• Eucharist
• Confirmation & Reconciliation
• Marriage & Holy Orders
• Unction
• Christian Prayer
• Christian Art & Music
• Summary: Christian Practices
• Try It: Christian Practices

Christian Holidays

• Goals: Christian Holidays
• The Liturgical Year
• Advent
• Christmas
• Lent
• Easter
• Ascension
• Pentecost
• Saints' Days
• The Assumption of Mary
• Summary: Christian Holidays
• Try It: Christian Holidays

Christianity in the 21^st Century

• Goals: Into the 21^st Century
• Christian Denominations
• Revivalism
• New Christian Denominations
• Roman Catholicism in America
• Religious Pluralism in America
• The Ecumenical Impulse
• Pentecostalism
• Global Christianity
• The Future of Christianity
• Summary: Into the 21^st Century
• Try It: Into the 21^st Century

Islam

The Life of Mohammed

• Goals: Life of Mohammed
• Religion in Ancient Arabia
• Mohammed's Early life
• The First Revelation
• Mohammed & the Meccans
• Night Journey
• Hijrah
• Islam Under Mohammed
• Mohammed's Family
• Summary: Life of Mohammed
• Try It: Life of Mohammed

Islamic Texts

• Goals: Islamic Texts
• Quran
• Biblical Figures in the Quran
• Arabic & the Quran
• Significance of the Quran
• Quranic Recitation
• Quranic Calligraphy
• The Hadith
• Sharia
• Islamic Philosophy
• Summary: Islamic Texts
• Try It: Islamic Texts

Major Tenets of Islam

• Goals: Major Tenets of Islam
• Islamic Monotheism
• No Original Sin
• No Value Placed on Celibacy
• Afterlife in Islam
• Islam & Judaism
• Islam & Christianity
• The Prophet
• People of the Book
• Angels, Spirits, & Jinn
• Summary: Major Tenets of Islam
• Try It: Major Tenets of Islam

Islamic Religious Practices

• Goals: Islamic Religious Practices
• Five Pillars of Islam
• Testimony
• Prayer
• Charity
• Fasting
• Islamic Pilgrimage
• Jihad
• Dietary Restrictions
• Islamic Rites of Passage
• Summary: Islamic Religious Practices
• Try It: Islamic Religious Practices

History of Islam

• Goals: History of Islam
• Early Expansion
• The Caliphate
• Umayyad Dynasty
• The Sunni/Shia Split
• Shia Islam
• Abbasid Dynasty
• Later Islamic Empires
• End of the Islamic Empires
• Summary: History of Islam
• Try It: History of Islam

Sufism

• Goals: Sufism
• Islamic Mysticism
• Rabia al-Adawiyya
• Controversies Over Sufism
• Sufi Orders
• Sufi Practices
• Rumi
• Sufism Today
• Summary: Sufism
• Try It: Sufism

Islamic Resurgence

• Goals: Islamic Resurgence
• Islam & the Modern World
• Islamic States in the 20th Century
• Modern Turkey
• Modern Iran
• Other Islamic States
• Islamic Revivalism
• Islamic Reform
• Summary: Islamic Resurgence
• Try It: Islamic Resurgence

Islam Around the World

• Goals: Islam Around the World
• Islam in Asia
• Islam in Africa
• Islam in Europe
• Islam in America
• African-American Islam
• Summary: Islam Around the World
• Try It: Islam Around the World

Women & Islam

• Goals: Women & Islam
• Role of Women in Islam
• Women & the Prophet
• Women in the Quran
• Women in the Hadith
• The Veil
• Islamic Feminism
• Summary: Women & Islam
• Try It: Women & Islam

Religious Pluralism

The World's Religions

• Goals: The World's Religions
• Making Meaningful Comparisons
• Universal & Ethnic Religions
• Orthopraxis & Orthodoxy
• Sacred Time
• Founders, Prophets, & Teachers
• Sex, Life, & Death
• One God or Many?
• Summary: The World's Religions
• Try It: The World's Religions

New Religious Movements

• Goals: New Religious Movements
• Religious Change
• Millennial Movements
• Universalist Religions
• Nature Religions
• New Age Religions
• Summary: New Religious Movements
• Try It: New Religious Movements

Religion in the 21^st Century

• Goals: The 21^st Century
• The Secularization Thesis
• Fundamentalism
• Interreligious Dialogue
• Women's Religious Leadership
• Religion in Popular Culture
• Looking Forward
• Summary: The 21^st Century
• Try It: The 21^st Century

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