This is to be the online course location for the International Academy for Interfaith Studies.
Human beings appear to have the potential of having spiritual brains and some already have such brains. Humans have the potential and in many cases have feeling deeply connected to something greater that themselves. Some develop intense beliefs about religion and God. In this course, we use modern neuroscience to offer insights into the meaning and nature of spirituality.
This set of 24 lectures examines the fascinating relationship between the human brain and spirituality. Relying on the latest theories and research from neuroscience, psychology, and other behavioral sciences, each lecture in this course addresses provocative questions about human spirituality.
Religion is a central feature of human life. The vast majority of human beings perceive themselves to be religious. We see many indications of religion every day, and we all know it when we see it, but religion is surprisingly difficult to define or comprehend adequately. This 24-lecture course provides a systematic and comparative framework for understanding the complex and multidimensional nature of religion. It explores the many similarities that link all religions, as well as major differences among many of the world's religious traditions.
The course unfolds in a logical sequence with different components of religion building on the foundations of previous presentations. Key terms and concepts will be defined throughout the course as the building blocks are put in place
Does God exist? Prior to the 17th century, that was not an acceptable question among intellectuals. But with the advent of modernity, the nature of that and related inquiries changed. "Modernity" is today’s historical period characterized by empirical investigations coupled with rigorous reasoning that are used to define what is acceptable “truths” and where intellectual and cultural authority no longer accept “truths” that are justified by past traditions or in divine revelation. In this era, Western intellectuals ask new questions about God, faith, and religion. For example, “Is religion a force for good in human life, or is it something that belongs to a past age, a symptom of the childhood of humanity?” This course looks at the evolving debate over religion as seen in the Western intellectual tradition.
Evil is a topic the most of us feel we understand to some degree. However, most of us do not realize that there are many understandings of what is evil and they have been explained by some of the greatest minds of recorded human history. This course presents those understandings. What is important is that each understanding comes with logical implications that color our fundamental beliefs in very significant ways--especially beliefs that relate to the subject of religion.
For example, we can think of evil as part of a divine cosmic struggle of good versus evil or we can think of evil as "missing the mark" or a reflection of an unripe maturity. The former is almost something beyond our control and the later is something that education and training can retify.
This course deals with the fundamental questions--Can humans know whether the claim "God exists" is true or not? If so, how? If not, why not?
Thus, this is a course about epistemology or what some call "knowledge theory". With the rise of atheism and its fierce advocates, this course becomes very important to anyone who wishes to be a minister.
The course does not address "Does God exist?" as that is about the practice of religion. Instead, this course looks at the concepts related to knowing about the existence of God. This distinction is difficult to grasp but it is essential in understanding the nature of this course.
This course of lectures is an historical examination of the interaction between philosophical traditions and religious traditions in the West. We begin with the roots of the philosophical tradition in ancient Greece, examining how Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus dealt with issues concerning God, the soul, and the nature of the cosmos (Lectures One through Five). The key concepts which this tradition contributed to Western religion are the Socratic practice of critical inquiry and the Platonist theory of intelligibility: the notion that the ultimate truth about which we inquire consist in certain timeless Forms or essences which our souls perceive with the "mind's eye." From this notion come the philosophical concepts of the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, the Fall and "going to heaven" as the soul's return to its native place.
One aspect of many religions is ethics and Aristotle presented one of the greatest treatments on that subject. This course explains his ideas and the relevance of his views to our own age. To Aristotle, the meaning of life must be something beyond merely existing and also be desirable for itself. His answer to the meaning of life question was being happy and that only a life of genuine virtue can leave one truly happy. He reasoned a life of genuine virtue is desirable for itself.
The men and women whose ideas have shaped the traditional cultures of Asia still have an impact on most of the world's inhabitants to this day; therefore, a basic understanding of Asian thought is indispensable for anyone traveling to that part of the globe, trying to made sense of international politics, or interacting with people and products with roots in Asia, or even for those who simply want a fuller picture of the human condition. It is not possible anymore to study only Western thought and history and then claim one knows everything necessary. The world is a smaller place than it used to be, and the variety and richness of the Eastern intellectual tradition is breathtaking.
This course is therefore an introduction to the most significant thinkers in Asian history. It is eclectic, with attention given to influential figures in philosophy, religion, history, literature, political science, and technology, from ancient times until the coming of the West. I will be talking about people and ideas that are relatively familiar such as Sunzi and his Art of War, Daoism, Yoga, Zen, Gandhi, and Mao, but also some that are virtually unheard of in the West, though they are all celebrated in their own lands (and deserve to be better known elsewhere).
Confucius, the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad are among the most important and influential persons in history. They are remembered for the examples of their lives, their insights into the human condition and the nature of ultimate reality, and the religious movements they inspired. It would be hard to name another set of four persons who have more deeply affected so many human lives... Continue reading
In this course, we examine these four figures both separately and comparatively in an effort to grasp the essential features of their lives and teachings and to explore the factors that contributed to their greatness. We will attend to the similarities and differences in their messages, in the patters of their lives, and in the ways they impacted their followers and the rest of the world.
The most important record of religious history resides not in books and sacred texts but buried in the earth. Ancient graves, statues, temples, standing stones, sacrificial offerings, and places of initiation all bear witness to the universal human quest for spiritual power and understanding. Since the beginnings of scientific archaeology in the 18th century, excavators have been discovering and interpreting evidence ranging from tiny goddess figurines carved from mammoth ivory to entire sacred landscapes, such as the Giza plateau in Egypt. The millennial of human experience that preceded the invention of writing about 5,000 years ago is only accessible to us through archaeology. And even for more recent religions and cults, the "testimony of the spade" provides an essential perspective that enhances our understanding of the literary tradition.
Archaeology provides evidence that is very different in nature from historical writings. With aerial reconnaissance and remote sensing technology, archaeologists relocate lost temples and other cult sites. With trowels and brushes, they gently remove the dust of ages from buried sites and artifacts. And with space-age laboratory techniques, they analyze the residues left by royal funeral feast as well as the last meals of sacrificial victims.
The early civilizations of the Near East during the Bronze Age (3500-1000 B.C.) and Early Iron Age (1100-500 B.C.) have been the preserve of archaeologists and linguists. Before the late 19th century, these civilizations were unknown, save for brief, often inaccurate biblical references. To modern readers, these civilizations are remote and forbidding, in contrast to Classical Greece and Rome. Yet each year, discoveries and scholarly publications have revealed the fundamental contributions of the ancient Near East to later Western civilization. Therefore, this course presents the main achievements and contributions of these early civilizations from Sumer to Achaemenid Persia.
This series is a twelve-part introduction to Hinduism, one of the world's great religions. The lectures are investigations into a variety of important dimensions of Hinduism to answer fundamental questions of interest to serious students of comparative religions. The series moves chronologically through the history of Hinduism-from its earliest precursors through its classical manifestations to its responses to modernity. Along the way, the salient aspects of Hindu life are discussed and placed in historical and theological context.
This course is a survey of the history of Buddhism from its origin in India in the sixth century B.C.E. to contemporary times in America. The course is meant to introduce students to the astonishing vitality and adaptability of a tradition that has transformed the civilizations of India, Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan and has how become a lively component in the cultures of Europe, Australia, and the America.
The course begins by exploring the religious and cultural world of the Buddha in ancient India. To understand the Buddha's contribution to the religious history of the world, it is important to know the problems he inherited and the options that were available to him to solve them. In ancient India, before the time of the Buddha, these problems were expressed in the Vedas, the body of classical Hindu scriptures. The Vedas introduce us to scholars and ritual specialist who searched for the knowledge that would free them form the cycle of death and rebirth. The Buddha inherited his quest for knowledge and directed it to his own distinctive ends.
Professor Isaiah M. Gafni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem addresses these and other issues as he explores the ever-changing 4,000-year-old saga of Judaism, one of the world's most ancient and influential religions.
The Bible has been labeled. correctly, as the foundation document of Western thought. It is read in synagogues, temples, and churches, it is cited on the floor of the Senate and from the bench in the courtroom. Contemporary politics is inextricably intertwined with it, from conflict in the Middle East to the claim by many in the United States that a return to "biblical values" is warranted. The Bible influenced the Pilgrims to leave England in the 17th century; it inspired the founders of the new republic in the eighteenth. Missionaries, with a Bible in hand, journeyed to Asia, Africa, and South America, and among the indigenous populations they met, the Bible galvanized attempts to throw off the yoke of colonialism. Its influence permeates, Western literature, from medieval plays to modern novels, art, music, theatre, film, and dance; its prophetic calls for social justice challenge all readers to reevaluate their own behavior even as its Wisdom literature challenges our views of God. Replete with genres ranging from myth and saga to law and proverb, containing dry political history and erotic love poetry, informed by a world view much different that our own, these texts are compendium of a people's sacred story. And that story is the foundation document of Judaism and the first part of the canon of the church.
Introduction to Psychology
This course covers psychological principles and clinical skills used in pastoral and spiritual counseling.
This module describes the basics of Judaism.
At the end of the first year, the faculty will review with each student what they have learned in the year. After successful completion of the review, an induction ceremony will be held to advance the students to their second year.
Christians of the second and third centuries held a remarkably wide range of beliefs. Although some of these beliefs may sound ludicrous today, at the time, they seemed not only sensible but right. Some Christians maintained that there were two Gods, or twelve, or thirty, or more. Some Christians claimed that Jesus was not really a human being, or that he was not really divine, or that he has two different beings, one human and one divine. Some Christians believed that this world was not created by the true God, buy by a malicious deity as a place for punishment for human souls, which had become entrapped here in human bodies. Some Christians believed that Jesus' death and resurrection had no bearing on salvation, and some Christians believed that Jesus had never actually died.
This course surveys major developments in the history of Christian theology, which is the tradition of critical reasoning about how to teach the faith of Christ. Taking the centrality of Jesus Christ as the distinctive feature of Christianity, it focuses on theological concepts by relating them to Christian life and experience, including especially practices of worship.
Islam today is the second largest and fastest-growing world religion, with majority populations in 56 countries spanning North America to Southeast Asia and significant minorities in Europe and the United States. Despite its more that 1.2 billion adherents, many in the West know little about the faith and are familiar only with the actions of a minority of radical extremists. Islam has had a significant impact on world affairs, both historically and in the contemporary era. Therefore, it is important to understand not only what it is that Muslims believe, but also how their beliefs are carried out both privately and publicly, both as individuals and as members of the Muslim community. We will see that Islam is not monolithic. Although Muslims share certain core beliefs, the practices, interpretations, images, and realities of Islam vary across time and space.
This module explains the basics of Not-For-Profit management.
Sermon and Ceremonies
Ethics is important to the minister in terms of what the minister communicates to others and how a minister should live her or his life.
This module explains the basics of spiritual counseling.
Introduction to Social and Environment Justice
At the end of the second year modules the academy conducts a review of what the seminary students have learned. If successfully passed, students will be ordained as Interfaith Ministers.
Christian believe that Jesus is a divine being, who is equal in power and stature with God the Father Almighty. However, the historical Jesus and His followers did not hold those thoughts when Jesus lived. How did those beliefs concerning His divine nature come into being? This transformation is the subject of this course.
This module explains and describes Buddhism.
Many Interfaith Ministers will either work for, or will start, their own nonprofit organization to serve their communities better and fulfill their personal ministries. This module covers how to start and manage a nonprofit organization and includes a wide range of topics from developing a measurable Mission Statement, recruiting and developing an active Board of Directors, dealing with personal issues, using social media to get your message out and much, much more
Many Interfaith Ministers will either work for, or will start, their own nonprofit organization to serve their communities better and fulfill their personal ministries. This module provides instruction on how to find and write winning grant proposals, and explains where grants fit into a financially healthy and sustainable nonprofit organization.
This is to be the online course location for the International Academy for Interfaith Studies.
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