No Class: October 10

There are more than forty identifiable religions in the world today. Some have thousands of adherents and others more than a billion. They share some elements in common and are quite different in other ways. They share the goal of providing ways to make sense of human existence, of providing ways to live life while facing death. This course will examine seven of the most influential world religions, including: Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism. We will examine the essentials of each and will compare and contrast them with one another. There will be readings and each class will about 2/3 lecture and 1/3 discussion. Our goal will be to understand each religion and to learn what it has to offer in approaching life and facing death.