HIST 2070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Mysterium Tremendum, Sui Generis, Polytheism
19 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The philosophy of this course:
• "REASON EXERCISED UPON KNOWLEDGE"
• Cardinal Newman says that education is not about memorising large chunks
of data. Rather, education is about reasoning based on fact
The study of religion in history:
• Religion has always been integral to human society. Religiosity in some form
appears in the historical evidence left by every culture known.
• In this course, we will study the earliest evidence of religion and trace the
origins and changes of religions throughout history. By looking at religion
through the lens of history, an understanding of what is essential to each
religion and indeed what is essential to religion generally can become
evident.
• What is religion?
o Most often when we see the word religion we think of institutions,
buildings, clergy, and rules
o There are almost as many definitions of religion as there are human
beings on Earth
o An institutional structure, rules, doctrines, buildings and professionals all
are inevitable and indeed necessary components of any communal
movement
o Most books on religions are stress doctrines that look at the historical
development of doctrine and may include photographs of buildings and
descriptions of official, ritual practices
o This course will look at religions in their social context and trace the
alterations that occur as societies change over time and will focus on the
lived experience of believers
o There is a sense that religions function as oppressive regimes to their
own none too savoury ends, or as a means for the powerful in society to
exercise control over a population
o Ordinary people most often follow a religion because they believe it
tells truth at the fundamental level of answering questions about
existence
1. Religion provides a sense of existential purpose, a counter to a
sense that chaos is the fundamental nature of existence
▪ The religious person faced with the vagaries of life: disease,
accident, earthquakes, recessions, personal hurts and so on,
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
