Religion, Myth and Secularization

Full course description

The course provides a broad approach to religion as a cultural phenomenon. It focuses on the following groups of questions and topics:

1. On defining religion

What is religion about? How does religion differ from mythology, the sciences, and the arts? What do secularization processes involve? In this part of the course we will look into some significant philosophical perspectives on the nature of religion and secularism.

2. On the contents of religion

First, we will briefly consider the most important characteristics of the major world religions. Against this background we will discuss a number of key narratives and themes from the Judaeo-Christian heritage, taken from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament (such as the creation story, book of Job, death and resurrection of Christ, epistles by Paul).

3. On the politics of religion

In the last part of the course we will look at the role of religion and religious institutions within political power structures, ranging from the Vatican to the Middle-East.