A Hindu temple can be a simple structure by the side of the road or a large complex including many buildings. Temples serve as dwelling places for deities, surrounded by markets selling offerings and flowers. The inner sanctuaries are small and intended for a few worshippers at a time. Above the sanctuaries are central towers, shaped like the mountain home of the gods and brightly painted.

This course examines the development of the western intellectual tradition from the fall of the Roman Empire through the High Middle Ages. Our basic premise will be that the triumph of Christianity in the west was not the inevitable outcome it might appear from hindsight. Our attention will therefore be focused not only on the development of Christian thought and practice, but on its challengers as well. The core themes of the course include the emergence of a uniform Christian orthodoxy in late antiquity; the development of monastic practice and its attendant intellectual traditions; and the geographical spread of Christian beliefs. Working in opposition to those trends were other forces, which we will also address in our readings. In particular, we will consider the persistence of northern paganism; the rise of Islam; the solidification of a separate Byzantine orthodoxy; indigenous heretical movements; and the ambiguous position of Jews in all of European society.

When we think of world religions, we often think of the Big Five: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But why do we think of those? In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll learn why “world religions” is a category constructed by human choices—and why that matters for the communities that are left out.
Chapters:
Introduction: "Coexist"
The "Big Five"
Colonialism & Religion
"World Religions"
Family Resemblance
Essentialism & Nationalism
The Limits of "Major Religions"
Review & Credits
Credits

In which Mike Rugnetta brings you the final installation of our unit on creation myths. This week, we're talking about human beings and their relationship to the natural world. It turns out foundational stories have a lot to teach us about the ways in which people relate to the physical world around them, and the other organisms that inhabit that world. We'll talk about the Biblical idea that humans have dominion over animals, and we'll talk about Native American stories in which people and nature collaborate to create the world.

This material is about the history of Israel, a small strip of land on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and its importance to three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Israel was a major crossroad between Europe, Asia, and Africa because of its location in the middle of the region. It had different periods of rule by different empires, and during this time, many impressive architectural structures were built, like the aqueducts of Caesarea and the fortress of Masada. The British also ruled over Israel for a period of time after World War I. Eventually, in 1948, Israel became a modern state after being granted some of the original land by the United Nations. Israel is the Jewish homeland, which Jews have had since ancient times, and the idea of a specific state called “Palestine” is factually incorrect.

Short Description:
A new, 21st century verse translation of Homer's epic work, translated by Michael Heumann.

Long Description:
There is no greater introduction to world literature than Homer’s Iliad. The great epic poem tells the story of the Bronze Age war between the Achaeans (Greeks) and Trojans, the great warriors who did the fighting, the woman they were fighting for (and fighting over), and the gods who egged them on.

This is a new, 21st century verse translation by Michael Heumann. It seeks to retain the spirit and language of Homer’s original Greek while making it readable and enjoyable for a modern audience.

Michael Heumann is a Professor of English at Imperial Valley College in California. He holds a PhD in English from the University of California, Riverside. This is his first translation.

Word Count: 149411

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In which Mike Rugnetta continues our unit on pantheons with the complex Indian pantheon, focusing on stories that were written in Sanskrit. We start with a violent creation story. We talk about the concept of Brahman, and the personification as three deities: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Then, the goddess Durga teaches us how to behead a buffalo demon while riding a lion.

What does it mean to be Hindu? In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll learn about the surprising history of the term “Hindu,” what the word “karma” really means, and how this vast, sprawling tradition contains more than one version of a story.
Chapters:
Introduction: Hindu Celebrations
Hindu Creation Stories
Where Does "Hindu" Come From?
Hindu Storytelling
The Hindu Pantheon
Hindu Terminology
Hindu Practices
Hinduism Across the Globe
Review & Credits
Credits

After completing basic biblical Greek, students are often eager to continue to learn and strengthen their skills of translation and interpretation. This intermediate graded reader is designed to meet those needs. The reader is “intermediate” in the sense that it presumes the user will have already learned the basics of Greek grammar and syntax and has memorized Greek vocabulary words that appear frequently in the New Testament. The reader is “graded” in the sense that it moves from simpler translation work (Galatians) towards more advanced readings from the book of James, the Septuagint, and from one of the Church Fathers. In each reading lesson, the Greek text is given, followed by supplemental notes that offer help with vocabulary, challenging word forms, and syntax. Discussion questions are also included to foster group conversation and engagement. There are many good Greek readers in existence, but this reader differs from most others in a few important ways. Most readers offer text selections from different parts of the Bible, but in this reader the user works through one entire book (Galatians). All subsequent lessons, then, build off of this interaction with Galatians through short readings that are in some way related to Galatians. The Septuagint passages in the reader offer some broader context for texts that Paul quotes explicitly from the Septuagint. The Patristic reading from John Chrysystom comes from one of his homilies on Galatians. This approach to a Greek reader allows for both variety and coherence in the learning process.

If you have any trouble with the audio, try this version: https://youtu.be/mQWpO889MrQ(it is the same video with enhanced audio).

The Mexica were an incredibly advanced society……. but their religion and cosmovision is immensely layered and complex.

So in this brief lecture we’ll introduce Mexica philosophy, religion, and their worldview.

We’ll also introduce the most important deities, and talk about which deities are related because in many ways, the Aztec gods are a family history.

Introduction to Biblical Literature on the book of Exodus and Deuteronomy. By Dr. Reg Codrington

An Introduction to Religion by Mark Knockemus is a comprehensive and accessible resource designed to explore the fundamental concepts, historical developments, and cultural significance of religion. This open educational textbook delves into the meaning of religion, the evolution of religious thought, key figures in religious history, and the intersection of religion with society, ethics, and personal experience. It presents religion not merely as a set of beliefs but as a dynamic and complex phenomenon that has shaped human civilizations. With chapters on topics such as scripture, ritual, morality, and religious experience, the textbook offers a broad and inclusive overview of the world’s major faith traditions and philosophical perspectives. This resource aims to facilitate critical thinking and a deeper understanding of how religion influences individual lives and societies at large, using a phenomenological approach that encourages students to observe without judgment.

This course examines the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization. A wide range of methodologies, including source criticism and the historical-critical school, tradition criticism, redaction criticism, and literary and canonical approaches are applied to the study and interpretation of the Bible. Special emphasis is placed on the Bible against the backdrop of its historical and cultural setting in the Ancient Near East.

Word Count: 129816

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This course is an introduction to Islam from the perspective of media and sound studies, intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. From the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Islam in its various manifestations has had a complex relationship with media. While much contemporary writing focuses on Islam in the media, this course explores how many aspects of Islamic practice and thinking might be understood as media technologies that facilitate the inscription, storage and transmission of knowledge. Central questions include: How do Islam and media technologies relate? What kinds of practices of inscription and transmission characterize Islam in all its varieties across time and place? How might Islamic thought and practice be understood in light of databases, networks, and audiovisual sensation? Given the rich diversity in Islam historically and geographically, emphasis will be placed on these interconnected but divergent practices from the earliest revelations of the Qur’an to contemporary Islamist political movements, with geographies spanning from Indonesia to the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Europe and North America. In addition to exploring these themes through reading and writing, students will be encouraged to complete course assignments and projects in media, using audiovisual documentary or composition as a means of responding to the course themes.

Members of the Islamic Center of Washington, DC discuss the religious and spiritual significance of Ramadan and the celebration that concludes it, Eid al-Fitr, in this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

This course explores how our views of Jewish history have been formed and how this history can explain the survival of the Jews as an ethnic/religious group into the present day. Special attention is given to the partial and fragmentary nature of our information about the past, and the difficulties inherent in decoding statements about the past that were written with a religious agenda in mind. It also considers complex events in Jewish history – from early history as portrayed in the Bible to recent history, including the Holocaust.

This video provides a brief history of Latin American Liberation Theology and explains why the Vatican condemned it.

This website provides the film script, reviews, a discussion forum, and 15 essays on Hasidism.