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Week 6: Religion and Myth
HUMN 100 6981 Introduction to Humanities (2215) OO
Religion and Myth
Whether religion is man-made is a question
for philosophers or theologians. But the
forms are man-made. They are a human
response to something. As a historian of
religions, I am interested in those
expressions. —Mircea Eliade
Qur’an of Ibrahim Sultan
This image is in the public domain.
—
Overview
Religion is a large part of many people’s lives. When you stand within a specific religious
tradition, you participate in expressions of belief rooted in that religion. For instance,
Christians often testify about how they have found salvation from sin through Jesus
Christ. Buddhists might chant the Vandana Ti-sarana, where they claim to take refuge in
the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha. And Muslims recite the shahada, which
professes that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is his prophet. All of these
are examples of the language of faith, which provide an insider’s perspective on a religious
tradition.
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However, when you study religion from an academic point of view, you do not use the
language of faith, because academics do not look at a tradition from the inside. Instead,
they look at it from the outside. Thus, we must adopt an approach suitable to the
accepted norms of the field of religious studies, norms which more closely align with
issues of history and anthropology, rather than those of faith.
In general, one way of talking about religion is not more “right” than another. However,
one way of talking about religion can be more “right” within a specific religious context;
likewise, another way of talking about religion can be more “right” within an academic
classroom setting, such as the discussions we will undertake this week. So, before
studying religious traditions from an academic perspective, you must learn how to talk
about them academically.
In academic religious studies, scholars have developed four general approaches used in
thinking and talking about religion:
Exclusivism: There is only one true religion, and other religions are false.
Inclusivism or relativism: Only one religion is true, but other religions could also
have some truths.
Pluralism: All religions have equal validity or truth value.
Empathetic interest in other people: All religions are interesting and important;
questions of truth are not considered.
A number of religious perspectives take the exclusivist or inclusivist position. These are
considered to be insider positions, and these are not the perspectives that scholars take.
Instead, they most often take an outsider point of view, which most closely resembles the
fourth option above—an empathetic interest in other people that seeks to discover what
is interesting and important about a religious tradition without making a judgment about
the truth claims of that religion.
When studying religious traditions, you will certainly come across things you have never
heard of. An academic point of view is important to cultivate when confronted with the
unfamiliar because it helps you learn more about it without the distortions of personal
bias. If you are not concerned with figuring out whether a religion is true or not, then you
are able to maintain a perspective that readily allows you to discover things that are
compelling and significant in that religion.
Every religious tradition offers a rich tapestry of cultural elements to study. In his classic
1998 book Dimensions of the Sacred: An Anatomy of the World’s Beliefs, religious studies
scholar Ninian Smart has divided these elements into seven dimensions:
1. Doctrinal and philosophical: the explanations for practices, beliefs, and concepts
2. Ethical and legal: the rules—the 10 commandments, the eightfold path
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3. Social and institutional: the organization—church, sangha, synagogue
4. Material: the stuff believers produce—music, art, dance, literature, architecture, etc.
5. Narrative and mythic: the stories from the religion that explain and inspire
6. Experiential and emotional: the personal reactions to the profound or divine
7. Practical and ritual: the things believers do that are often related to the material
dimension—puja, the Eucharist, prayer, etc.
In this module, we will look at a brief overview of the five major world religions:
Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Then, for each of these religions,
we will look at examples related to three of the dimensions above: (1) the narrative and
mythic; (2) the practical and ritual; and (3) the material. The examples in the learning
resources will allow you to see how these dimensions are closely related, and they will
also demonstrate how religion is a multidimensional phenomenon that can include all of
the fields already covered in this course: philosophy, visual arts, music, dance, literature,
theater, and architecture.
Learning Outcomes
Following is a list of the Week 6 outcomes, mapped to the corresponding course
outcome. The course outcomes give “the big picture,” and the weekly outcomes provide
more detailed information that will help you achieve the course outcomes.
Week 6 Outcomes
Identify and describe an academic approach to the study of religion (1, 2).
Identify basic information about the five major world religious traditions of
Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (2, 3).
Analyze the connections that myth and ritual have with visual art, dance, music,
and literature in world religious traditions (3, 4).
Course Outcomes Met in Week 6
1. Describe and analyze the way human culture is expressed through works of
literature, performing and visual arts, philosophy, and religion in order to appreciate
the depth and breadth of the humanities disciplines.
2. Use basic vocabulary, concepts, methods, and theories of the humanities disciplines
in order to describe and analyze cultural and artistic expressions.
3. Identify and apply criteria in order to evaluate individual and collective cultural
accomplishments.
4. Examine individual and cultural perspectives in the field of humanities in order to
recognize and assess cultural diversity and the individual’s place in the world.
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Week 6 Checklist
Checklist
Week 6 Study Guide
Web Page
Week 6 Learning Resources
External Learning Tool
Week 6: QUIZ
Quiz
WEEK 6 DISCUSSION: Illustrating Religion and Myth
Discussion Topic
0 % 0 of 6 topics complete
Read the Weekly Overview & Learning Goals
Read, View, Review all of the Learning Resources & Links
Participate in our Discussions
Take the Quiz
Compose your Final Project Part 2
Take the quiz before you post to the discussions.
Please use the Learning Resources from this module to answer the quiz questions. You
may take this quiz up to five times. Questions you have answered incorrectly will be
shown to you after each attempt. Your best grade will be recorded in the grade book.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS: Your contributions should be thoughtful
and developed. Answer all parts of the question and use concepts from the course
materials. Use a professional style of communication, with attention to grammar, spelling,
and typos; cite your sources.
Unless your instructor specifies otherwise, choose ONE of the following questions, and
give a substantive response to at least two other students.
1. THE MATERIAL DIMENSION OF MYTH
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If you look at the Learning Resources for this week, you will see myths from religions
paired with elements of the arts which express or are related to those myths. For
example, the Jewish Passover myth is covered, and then there is a link to a Passover
dance and some material decorative items used in the Jewish Passover ritual, which re-
enacts the myth. Also, the Eucharistic myth is covered under Christianity, and then there
are some examples of how the story of the Eucharist is expressed in the arts, including in
music and poetry.
For this discussion, pick one of the five major world religions. Find a myth from that
religion that you can directly connect to something in the religion’s material dimension
(the arts).
Provide a link to a version of the myth and give us a very short (3-5 sentences) description
of the myth.
Provide a link to the element from the arts that links to the myth and give us a paragraph
that analyzes how the two are connected. For example: Is this an object that is part of a
ritual? Is it used by believers to accomplish something? Does it teach believers
something? Does it help a community express their beliefs? Is it something (like a work of
visual art) that critiques the values/beliefs/practices etc. expressed by the myth, or offers
a new perspective on the religion?
Keep in mind that according to the Encyclopedia Britannica online a myth is: a symbolic
narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates
actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. It is distinguished from
symbolic behaviour (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons). Myths are
specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or
circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing apart from
ordinary human experience. The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the
body of myths belonging to a particular religious
tradition.https://www.britannica.com/topic/myth
2. THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF RELIGION
To address the following questions, consider the four approaches to religion described in
the introduction to this module: exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism and empathetic
interest in other people.
Which of these four approaches do you take in your everyday life, and why?
Describe a friend, acquaintance, or relative whose approach to religion is different than
yours. What approach do they take? Given your different approaches, how would you
communicate with them about religion?
https://www.britannica.com/topic/myth
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Final Project, Part 2. Development of the Topic
Assignment
Due July 27 at 11:59 PM
If you were to take a college class on religious traditions, do you think the academic study
of religion might require you to adjust your approach? Explain your answer.
You will not see any other postings until you post your own.
Initial posts are due by Saturday at 11:30PM ET and at least two responses to fellow
classmates are expected by the end of the academic week on Tuesday by 11:30PM ET.
Click here to view the full Final Project description.
Final Project, Part 2. Development of the Topic.
This part of the final project is a summary of your ongoing work on the final paper; it
should include three paragraphs, one covering each selected work. You should also make
sure to re-state what your subject is.
Identify how the subject you chose in Part 1 appears in three different examples, each
from a different Humanities discipline (visual art, music, dance, poetry, prose, theater, film,
religion). For instance, you could choose a poem, a painting and a scene from a film, all of
which express and represent the theme of anger. Or, to be even more specific, if you
choose the emotion of “love,” the final paper could analyze and discuss love as it is
expressed in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 147 (literature), Boticelli’s Birth of Venus (visual art),
and in the ballet Swan Lake (dance).
Write one short paragraph (3-5 sentences) about each of your selections in which you:
Identify a reliable and appropriate example (a good-quality image, recording, video,
etc.).
Identify and cite the source, including the artist, creator etc. as well as where you
found the example.
Explain why you find the example relevant for this assignment.
Identify one tool, concept or method from the Learning Resources you might be
able to use to talk about it.
STOP: Before you hand in your assignment, make sure to ask yourself the following
questions:
1. Have I chosen three examples from three different fields of the Humanities?
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2. Are each of the examples I chose specific, reliable, appropriate, relevant to my
topic?
3. Have I offered an explanation for each example that offers a reason for including
it?
4. Have I provided a specific and appropriate interpretative tool, concept or method
that I will likely use to interpret each example?
5. Have I provided a list of resources and do all of my citations conform to MLA 8th
edition guidelines?
6. Have I proofread this assignment for grammatical, structural, and
spelling errors that might impede someone from understanding what I
am trying to say?
Due Date for Part 2: This submission is due during Week 6, with the final day of
submission being the Tuesday of the sixth week (11:30pm ET). Please see the Course
Schedule for the exact final due date for this submission. The submission should be
carefully edited and proofed for standard use of English.
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