Introduction to the History of Religions [ LTHEO1120 ]

Through studying selected themes, the major living religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism) are presented and compared in order to show their significant distinctive features and their mutual differences as well as their deep similarities. Comparative critical analysis teaches students how to ignore superficial similarities and discover deeper or hidden correlations and homologies.

The student should learn: - to critically approach the religious phenomenon as it appears in today's major religions: their visions of the world and of the human condition, their relation to the scriptures, their rituals, ethical principles, ways of salvation, etc.; - to use the basic documentary sources in the field of the historical and comparative study of religions.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

According to the number of students, it should be a final written examination of knowlegde or a short dissertation (15pp) about a specific buddhist topic, and a oral examination for remedial session.

The concrete topic of this course changes every year. Please refer to the French version for uptodate information.

 Please refer to the French version.

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