Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
Conclude your reading of the Bhagavad-Gita with an appreciation of the theophany - Krishna's revelation of the nature of divinity. True freedom, says the Gita's final message, comes from disinterested action, reflective knowledge, and a finding of value at the cosmic level of a universe divine in its own right.
Publisher
Ideas Roadshow
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Eight professional philosophers (Mark Bevir, James Robert Brown, Patricia Churchland, Brian Epstein, Nita Farahany, Scott Soames, Susan Wolf) describe what first attracted them, and what still attracts them, to the philosophical life.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Within the life and preaching of the prophet Jeremiah, study the book of Jeremiah, Chapter 7, regarding his "temple sermon"_x009d_ preaching against idolatry, injustice, and fraudulent worship. Witness the prophet's response to his later persecution, and his struggle against his own call to be a prophet. Also read the hopeful prophecy in which God offers a new covenant to Israel.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Conclude with Professor Hardy's recommendations, from each of the major religious traditions, of specific texts with which to begin your own reading of sacred writings. Finally, contemplate the question of what difference the comparative study of sacred texts might make in our lives when we read them with empathy and understanding.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Study the key characteristics that make a group a "cult," including a desire for authenticity and a new pattern of life that breaks with mainstream culture. Then, use Mormonism, China's Falun Gong, and the Solar Temple as ways to explore why some new religions provoke violence and others practice it.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Sacrifice is one of the most fundamental building blocks of religion. Here, examine how and why people commit self-harm and sacrifice for religious purposes. Topics include animal sacrifice during India's Vedic period, self-denial and asceticism (such as vows of celibacy), and religious suicides from ancient Rome to the modern era.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
The Mormon religion offers its own unique scriptures, used in conjunction with the Christian Bible. Learn about the Book of Mormon, an epic religious-historical narrative, as well as its other sacred texts, including Mormonism's oral temple ceremony, and grasp how they are used as expressions of the faith.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
In a second look at Confucianism, investigate the renowned Yijing and how its system of divination has actual practical applications. Then delve into Neo-Confucianism, its principles of self-cultivation and harmony with humanity and the cosmos, and its embodiment in the texts of the Analects, the Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Constant Mean.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
For humans, the world is always about to end. Using examples like the People's Temple, the Branch Davidians, and Aum Shinrikyo, as well as 19th-century America, explore the meanings of apocalypticism as a form of human meaning-making, as well as its role in the phenomenon of religious violence.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
In this lecture, do more than just focus on how to define terrorism. Instead, try and understand how and why terrorists see the world as they do - a task worth undertaking if we're serious about understanding contemporary problems with religious violence. Your case studies here: Gush Emunim, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Examine the role of the prophet in ancient Israel as the conscience of the nation. Study the life of the prophet Elijah, his actions to affirm the supremacy of God, and his later disillusion and disobedience to God. Grasp Elijah's role in the fall of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah to Assyria and Babylon, a story which, nevertheless, ends on a note of hope.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
Some beautiful readings from the Daodejing bring out the profound differences in outlook that set it apart from Confucianism. Grasp how it turns away from social structures and the "cultivation" of individual excellence in favor of a simple, natural life.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Jainism, a sister religion to Buddhism, maintains an unusual relationship to scripture. Explore the principles and ascetic customs of the faith's two groups, the Shvetambara and Digambara, which reject each other's scriptures as forgeries. Study excerpts from each group's sacred texts, revered yet never held as the heart of the faith.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
The Nag Hammadi codices contain numerous texts called "revelations" or "secret books." Here, explore three such texts, the Revelation of Paul, the Revelation of Peter, and the Secret Book of James, as they propound theological views that challenged and in some cases sharply criticized the emerging orthodox church and its leaders.
55) Gnosticism
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Gnosticism, one of the most fascinating phenomena in religious history, sparked ideologies that competed and conversed with other religions of the time, including Christianity. Follow Gnostic ideology and its impact on Western thought through the centuries, from its role in early religions and emergence in medieval spirituality to its remarkable traces in modern popular culture.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
The New Testament Gospels present four distinct accounts of the life of Jesus of equal authority. Compare the discrepancies between the four Gospels, taking note of key hypotheses regarding the sources and theological motivations underlying them. Continue with the Acts of the Apostles as it outlines Christian practices that serve to define the faith.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Continuing with the Secret Book, study the text's retelling of the Genesis story, which presents the creation of humanity and the biblical Flood as the work of the false god Ialdaboath, who acts to prevent human beings from knowing their true nature. Learn also about salvation as envisioned in the Secret Book.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
The teachings of the Gnostics and Valentinians were later condemned as heresy. But how did the idea of heresy arise within Christianity? Learn about the "invention" of heresy by theologians such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. Study what Irenaeus opposed in Gnostic/Valentinian spirituality, and the core features of his vision of Christianity.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Study the Qur'an's structure and contents, noting how the message of faith - revolutionary for its time - is spread throughout the suras (chapters). Read the beautiful poetry, explore the Qur'an's major themes, and consider how its stories compare to the same stories as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Consider the historical and literary contexts of the Old Testament, and take an overview of this course. Then, study the events contained within the first six days of creation. For each day, note what was created, how God evaluated it, and how the events of the days are interconnected. Also, observe how the events establish an elaborate pattern and what that pattern meant to ancient Israelites.
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