Assessment

Continuous Assessment & Tutorials: 15% Essay, 1,500 word essay: 25%. End of semester examination: 60%

Module Aims

• To offer a general introduction to the main religious traditions of the world
• To examine the relationship between these other religions and the Catholic Church
• To look at avenues for inter-religious dialogue

Learning Outcomes

• — Understand the basic outlines of the relationship between Divine Revelation, Catholicism and the various world religions
• — Describe the origin and development of a select number of the World Religions (e.g. Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism)
• — Outline the essential characteristics of the beliefs of these religions
• — Understand the challenges arising for religion in the world most notably fundamentalism
• — The relationship between Christianity and the major world religions and issues arising Nostra Aetate, Dominus Iesus and the various official dialogues between the Catholic Church and the various world religions
• — Examine the tensions between Christian evangelisation and inter-religious dialogue

Bibliography

• — Textbook: Philip Barnes, World Religions. Into the Classroom: Religious Education and the Leaving Certificate. Dublin: Veritas, 2003
• — John A. Hardon, S.J. Religions of the World. An Image Book. New York: Doubleday, 1963. N.B. this book is out of print, but the full text is available on-line at: http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Protestantism/Protestantism_019.htm