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Religion

RELI E-1010/W World Religions (21794)
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Christopher S. Queen, PhD, Lecturer on the Study of Religion, Harvard University.
Writing-intensive course. 4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Thursday, Feb. 2, 5:30-7:30 pm, Sever Hall, Room 113. Spring term

The historical origins, central teachings, and devotional practices of the major religious traditions--Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--are considered in relation to common themes of human experience: the holy or sacred, evil and suffering, love and compassion, wisdom and justice, death and deliverance. The roles and meanings of religious symbols are explored through lectures, discussion, film, and the writing of short critical essays.
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RELI E-1015/W Comparative Religious Ethics (12449)
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Anne E. Monius, PhD, Professor of South Asian Religions, Harvard Divinity School.
Writing-intensive course. 4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 5:30-7:30 pm, Sever Hall, Room 113. Fall term
Online and on-campus options. See the Distance Education website. Lecture 1 video. Lecture 2 video.

A comparative examination of conceptions of the moral self and ways of thinking and acting ethically within the framework of three religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity.
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RELI E-1017 Christian Thought on War and Peace: From Augustine to Iraq (12498)
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Patrick Provost-Smith, PhD, Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity, Harvard Divinity School.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Monday, Sept. 19, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 214. Fall term

A study of Christian thinkers from Augustine through present thinkers who sought and still seek to articulate the relationship between Christian morality and war. The course explores the long history of Christian thought on war and peace, and then looks at the continuing war in Iraq through those lenses.
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RELI E-1023 The Dead Sea Scrolls, Early Christianity, and Ancient Judaism (22297)
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Shaye J. D. Cohen, PhD, Nathan Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit and undergraduate credit $625, graduate credit $1,525.
Monday, Jan. 30, 5:30-7:30 pm, Harvard Hall, Room 202. Optional sections to be arranged. Spring term
Online and on-campus options. See the Distance Education website. Lecture 1 video.

This course is devoted to the comparative study of two ancient Jewish sects: the Jesus movement, which would go on to become Christianity, and the community which lived near the Dead Sea and left behind the Dead Sea Scrolls. We study the connections between them, if any, and their place within the varieties of ancient Judaism.
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RELI E-1045c Religion and the Visual Arts: East and West (12441)
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Robert M. Gimello, PhD, Visiting Professor of East Asian Studies and Religious Studies, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 102. Required sections to be arranged. Fall term

An exploration of the presence of the visual arts in religion and the presence of religion in the visual arts--their mutual influence illustrated by close examination of selected examples of religious painting, sculpture, and architecture from the Christian and the Buddhist traditions, all chosen to illustrate major issues in contemporary theory of art and religion. The masterpieces are chosen not only because of their overtly religious character and the high esteem in which they are held in their respective religious and artistic traditions but also because they have been subjects, in the past and in the present, of explicit discourse about the relationship between art and spirituality.
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RELI E-1420 History of Ancient Christianity (12496)
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Helmut Koester, DrTheol, John H. Morison Research Professor of Divinity and Winn Research Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Harvard Divinity School.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Thursday, Sept. 22, 7:35-9:35 pm, Andover Hall, Sperry Room. Fall term

Christian history from the beginnings to the end of the fourth century in its political and cultural context. The course discusses Jesus, the diversity of developments, the process of institutionalization, Montanism and Gnosticism, the development of doctrine, persecutions, and the controversies and conflicts of the fourth century.
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RELI E-1426 The Apocryphal Jesus and the Noncanonical Apostles: Introduction to Ancient Christian Apocryphal Literature (22296)
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François Bovon, DrTheol, Frothingham Professor of the History of Religion, Harvard Divinity School.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Thursday, Feb. 2, 7:35-9:35 pm, Andover Hall, Sperry Room. Spring term

This course begins by exploring the field of noncanonical gospels, particularly Greek fragments of lost gospels, then devotes a longer time to the apocryphal acts of the apostles, particularly to the Acts of Philip. It concludes by reading the Apocalypse of Peter and the Apocalypse of Paul.
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RELI E-1510 The Bible and Politics (22283)
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Paul D. Hanson, PhD, Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School.
Graduate seminar. 4 units. Graduate credit $1,575. Limited enrollment.
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 5:30-7:30 pm, Rockefeller Hall, Room 2. Spring term

This seminar begins with a survey of the ways in which biblical themes have been applied to political issues in the United States from colonial times to the present. It turns next to an examination of the five political models that developed within biblical times. Finally, it explores dimensions of a viable political theology within the context of our religiously diverse society, with sensitivity both to potential abuses and constructive contributions that can arise from biblically informed political activity. Prerequisite: knowledge of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible (in English translation).
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RELI E-1704 The Worlds of Zen (22394)
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Robert M. Gimello, PhD, Visiting Professor of East Asian Studies and Religious Studies, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 213. Required sections to be arranged. Spring term

Drawing upon the full historical and geographical range of Zen (in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the West--in both premodern and modern times), this course explores Zen both as a form of the Buddhist religious life, comprising many methods of meditation practiced within a variety of institutions, and as an element in the configuration of cultures. In the latter connection special attention is given to Zen as an influence upon and as an ingredient in such registers of culture as literature, painting, calligraphy, architecture, music, landscape gardening, tea ceremony, and the martial arts--even politics.
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RELI E-1705 Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (11940)
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Leonard van der Kuijp, PhD, Professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, Harvard University.
4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 5:30-7:30 pm, Sever Hall, Room 306. Fall term

An introduction to and exploration of Tibetan Buddhism in the context of Tibetan intellectual and political history, cultural manifestations, doctrines, and thought. Students read secondary works and examine various primary materials in translation. The course assumes no background in the study of Buddhism, Asian history, religion, or languages.
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RELI E-1710/W Introduction to the Hindu Traditions of India (22255)
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Anne E. Monius, PhD, Professor of South Asian Religions, Harvard Divinity School.
Writing-intensive course. 4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 5:30-7:30 pm, Sever Hall, Room 106. Spring term

An introduction to the many distinct yet interrelated religious traditions of South Asia that are often labeled Hinduism. This course considers the ways in which Hindus from a variety of historical time periods, local traditions, and social backgrounds have attempted to make sense of their world and their lives within it.
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Related Courses

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