Christianity and religions

The course aims to provide the necessary tools to address methodological problems through advanced historical and historiographical knowledge necessary to acquire critical comparative skills of different religious contexts.

According to the Dublin descriptors, students, at the end of the course, will demonstrate:

1) knowledge and understanding skills such as to reinforce those achieved in the first cycle; ability to elaborate and / or apply original ideas, in a research context.

2) ability to apply knowledge and understanding and ability to solve problems to new or unfamiliar issues, inserted in broader (or interdisciplinary) contexts connected to one's field of study;

3) ability to integrate knowledge and to formulate judgments on the basis of information that is not necessarily complete;

4) ability to communicate one's knowledge clearly and unambiguously to specialist and non-specialist interlocutors.

5) ability to carry out research autonomously.

The course proposes a path through the history of critical studies in religious-historical matters: from the birth of mythology to comparative studies in the history of religions.  Special attention will be given to the religious history of the ancient and late antique Mediterranean: from Judaism to Islam (mod. A). An in-depth study will cover the study of the discourses of Paul of Tarsus in the Acts of the Apostles, read and commented in the original language (mod. B). 

A. History and Method (4 ECTS):

Books:

- G. Filoramo-M. Massenzio-M. Raveri-P. Scarpi, Manuale di storia delle religioni, Bari 1998, pp. 1-137; 173-287; 439-549.

-  G. Sfameni Gasparro, Introduzione alla storia delle religioni, Bari, Laterza 2011, pp. 231.

B. Paul's speeches: rhetoric and religious experience compared (2 ECTS):

Book:

-       Atti degli apostoli, introduzione, traduzione e commento di G. Rossè, San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 2010, pp. 320. 

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.

In itinere test will be on module A = written questionnaire or, based on the number of students, seminar activity on topics related to module A

 (optional).

The correction will be discussed and the results will be announced during class or reception hours. The vote will be expressed out of thirty and will remain valid for one calendar year. The in itinere test is a tool to verify the degree of learning achieved, but above all the effectiveness of the study method adopted. For this reason, this test will be considered in the definition of the final evaluation at the discretion of the students.

Final oral exam will be on module B (on modules A and B for those who have not completed the in itinere test).

For the final judgment on the exam, the in itinere test (in agreement with the student) will be taken into account proportionally, but not strictly

 mathematically. In the evaluation of the oral exam, will be taken into consideration not only the knowledge of the fundamental contents, but also

the mastery of historiographic problems, lexical properties and critical and argumentative skills.

Non-attending students are required to contact the teacher before taking the exam.

- Notes on the history of a concept: the term religio

- Religions of the ancient world: polytheisms

- Three monotheisms compared: Judaism, Christianity, Islam

- The speeches of Paul of Tarsus and the religious experiences of his audience