ATS3611 · A history of God

Overview

Yahweh, Jesus, Allah. Where did God get started? How has the idea changed over time? What is the meaning of the famous statement “God is dead”? This unit explores the way God has been imagined in a variety of religious and mystical traditions in different times and places. Focusing on the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and comparing and contrasting them with the Eastern traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, it analyses the historical development of theological, philosophical and mystical conceptions of the divine. Tracing the story of God from Antiquity through the Middle Ages and into Modernity, the unit considers how understandings of God have transformed, and been transformed by, society. Closing with contemporary critical approaches to the relationship between science and faith, we examine recent challenges posed by the Enlightenment, secularism, feminism, and the Holocaust.

Areas of study: Jewish studies (elective) History

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Discuss and analyse the major conceptions of God in the world’s major religious traditions, with an emphasis on the three monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam;
2. Explain the major developments and phases of the individual traditions and the continuities and ruptures that characterise them;
3. Identify and critically analyse the key figures and core primary texts of the monotheistic traditions;
4. Reflect upon the challenge of modernity and its impact on secular and religious conceptions of ultimate reality. change to reflect upon or assess depending on how you are planning to assess this item.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.