Cultural Literacy For Religion - TTC

Category: Education
Language: English
Keywords: Cultural Literacy Religion
Written by TTC
Read by Dr. Mark Berkson
Format: MP3
Bitrate: Variable

Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know

Taught By Professor Mark Berkson, Stanford University Ph.D,
Hamline University

When does the Jewish Sabbath begin? Who are Vishnu and Shiva? What are Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths? What are the Five Pillars of Islam? These questions are more than an academic exercise.
Religious belief has been innate to humans everywhere and in every age, from the time of the Neanderthals to the 21st century. It’s also one of the strongest motivators of human behavior and has a profound impact on all aspects of our culture—our spiritual beliefs, our rituals, our politics, and the very foundations of our democracy.

Unfortunately, the majority of Americans fail basic tests about religion, including their own faith, according to polls conducted by Gallup and the Pew Research Forum. This is troublesome, because religious literacy is about so much more than naming deities or knowing the stories of ancient history. A basic understanding of religion is crucial for today’s educated citizen for several reasons:

•For many of us, religion is important for examining and understanding ourselves.
•Religion and the interactions between different faiths play a critical role
in many of today’s current events.
•The world is increasingly diverse and interconnected, and most of us have close friends, relatives, and neighbors of different faiths.
For many of us, religion is a powerful cultural identifier and impacts our everyday expression of ourselves. Religious literacy—the knowledge of basic teachings, symbols, practices, founders, institutions, and values of the world’s religious traditions—can shed new light on the world around us and knock down the boundaries between us, making us better neighbors and better citizens.

Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know is your chance to experience the breadth and depth of the world’s religions from all angles—historical, theological, and cultural. Over the course of 24 engaging lectures, award-winning Professor Mark Berkson of Hamline University takes you on a tour of our world and its religious cultures. From India to East Asia to the Middle East to the United States, your journey will introduce you to the beliefs, symbols, and practices of other traditions, and it will provide you with new insights into your own.