NES 2651 - [Judaism, Christianity, and Islam]

(crosslisted) JWST 2651, RELST 2651
(GHB) (HA-AS)

Fall. Not offered 2015-2016. 3 credits.

K. Haines-Eitzen.

Have you ever wondered how Jews, Christians, and Muslims can worship the same universal deity, yet find themselves in conflict with one another, often to the point of demonizing adherents of another tradition? How can Jews consider Abraham the first Jew, Christians regard him as the first Christian, and Muslims look upon him as the first Muslim? How each can put forth exclusive claims to truth, to what is required of women and men, and to control of sacred sites such as Jerusalem? This course explores the ways in which communities of Jews, Christians, and Muslims came to define themselves and by extension those outside their religious community through the production and subsequent interpretation of “authoritative texts,” including the Hebrew Bible, the (Christian) Bible, and the Arabic Qur’an. We will consider each tradition’s tremendous diversity and elasticity; the features that unify adherents; and how views of the “other” from within each tradition vary across time.