Class #15, 5/7/12

**Roster, Etc.

**Final Exam. 

**"When can I know my grade?" 
------>E-mail the instructor after the weekend.  I should have something in the way of an exam grade and course grade by that point.

**I've been honored to teach and learn with you this semester.  Good luck!

Class #14, 4/30/12

**Roster, etc.


**Return papers.

**Brief re-examination of the science/religion dialogue that continues today--how attitudes are changing both in the scientific and the religious communities.

------>See "Two Separate Domains," by Stephen Jay Gould, pp 515ff and "Truth Cannot Contradict Truth" (handout) by Pope John Paul II.

------>Gould and the "bigger issues."

------>And a few more pictures.

**Brief exam orientation--exam is May 7, same time & place.

Class #13, 4/23/12

**Roster, etc.

**Due tonight:  Your papers on the critique of a single argument/position.

**Discussion of the handouts, "Religion and Literature"--Tolkien and Barfield.

------>Some visual materials are here.

**For next week:

------>A little more discussion on science and religion:  Read--
------>------>Stephen Jay Gould, "Two Separate Domains," pp 515ff;
------>------>Handout, "Truth cannot contradict Truth."

------>------>Be prepared to prepare for the exam, May 7th.

Class #12, 4/16/12

**Roster, etc.

**Papers due next week--any questions?

**Due tonight: Unit 13, Religious Diversity--
------>Read:
------>------>The Dalai Lama, "Buddhism and Other Religions," pp 577ff.
------>------>Paul Griffiths, The Uniqueness of Religious Doctrines," pp 573ff
------>------>Karl Rahner, Religious Inclusivism, pp 588ff

**Some visual aids can be found here.

**As time permits:  The Dalai Lama speaks at Rice University on Compassion in Everyday Life,

**For next week:
------>Your papers are due.
------>Read and make sense of "Mythopoeia" by Tolkien (Handout).

Class #11, 4/9/12

**Roster, etc.
------>Paper due 4/23--any questions?

**Part I:  Revisit last week's topic on miracles as evidence of divine existence and action.
------>(see previous entry)

**Part II:  Due this week:  "Life after Death"
------>Readings from Price and Swinburne.
------>Writing question on your agreement with Price's view.

------>Some visual aids:  HERE.

**For next week, 4/16:  Unit 13, Religious Diversity.
------>Read:
------>------>The Dalai Lama, "Buddhism and Other Religions,"  pp 577ff.
------>------>Paul Griffiths, The Uniqueness of Religious Doctrines,"  pp 573ff
------>------>Karl Rahner, Religious Inclusivism, pp 588ff.

Class #10, 4/2/12

**Roster, etc.

**Questions about upcoming paper?

**Groups:  Detective work on the Resurrection narratives (Handouts).

**Discussion--Is there ever any need for explanations beyond "nature"?  What conditions would exclude such explanations?  What conditions would necessitate them--or at least make them plausible?

**Hume and Davis:  Visual aids for tonight's discussion.

**A couple of discussions on openness to the "divine" explanation--here's the first:




And here's the second.


**For next week--the spooky stuff:  Unit 11, Life after Death--
------>Read:
------>------>H.H. Price, "The Soul Survives and Functions after Death," pp 465ff
------>------>Richard Swinburne, "The Soul Needs a Brain to Continue to Function," pp 474ff
------>Write:  Would Price's view of the afterlife make death attractive to you?  Why/Why not?

Class #9, 3/26/12

**Roster

**Questions about essay....

**Due tonight:
------> Readings from Part Nine, "God-Language":
------>------>Thomas Aquinas, The Doctrine of Analogy, pp 391ff;
------>------>Flew and Mitchell, The Falsification Debate, pp 394ff;
------>------>Paul Tillich, Religious Language as Symbolic, pp 398ff;
------>------>Rosemary Reuther, Sexism and God-Talk, pp 404ff.
------>Writing: 
------>------>"Reuther recognizes that God, as spirit, is neither male nor female, which are physical realities.  She speaks of the tradition of apophatic theology [see Maimonides], which emphasizes the unlikeness between God and creatures, and argues for inclusive language that is inherently metaphorical.  Review her points related to these issues and evaluate. [Question taken from text]"

**Information and pictures for our authors is here.

** For next class, 4/2/12:  The Issue of Miracles, Unit 10--
------>Readings:
------>------>Stephen Davis, "Is It Possible to Know That Jesus Was Raised from the Dead?"  pp 433ff.
------>------>David Hume, "The Evidence for Miracles Is Weak," pp 441ff.
------>Write:
------>------>Why does Davis say that whether it is rational to believe the Resurrection depends on your prior worldview?  Does YOUR worldview allow for the possibility that this event actually occurred?  [Question is from p 440 of the text.]