Required Texts:

1.     Abner Cohen, Custom and Politics in Urban Africa. Routledge .

2.     Isaac Asimov, Asimov's Guide to the Bible: The New Testament.  New York: Avon Books

3.     Fredricksen, From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus.  Yale University Press.

4.     Marvin Harris. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches. New York: Random House.

5.     Richard Horsley and John Hanson. Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus. San Francisco: Harper and Row.

6.     Alice Kehoe. The Ghost Dance: Ethnohistory and Revitalization. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

7.     Elaine Pagels. The Gnostic Gospels. New York: Random House.

Course Description:

This course will be divided into three parts. The course will begin with an overview of an anthropological approach to the study of religion.  This portion of the course will emphasize the application of scientific research methods to the study of human religious expression, with an emphasis on the importance of objective reasoning, critical evaluation, an operational methodology, and an adherence to both an etic perspective and Uniformitarian principles. Following a discussion of several topics relevant to the anthropological study of religion --including magic, rituals, witchcraft and mythology-- the course will focus on the relationship between religion and the political economy.  Within this context, religion will be examined as both a mechanism of social and political control and as a vehicle of sociopolitical change in the form of what anthropologists call Revitalization Movements.

Several specific religious revitalization movements will then be investigated during the second part of the course in order to illustrate the pervasiveness of this type of social movement and the similarity of the underlying causes of such disparate movements.  The religious movements we will  examine will include: (1) the Ghost Dance of the Plains Indians, the rise of the Handsome Lake religion among the Iroquois, and the emergence of other Native American prophets such as Neolin among the Delaware and Tenskwatara among the Shawnee; (2) Cargo Cults in the South Pacific; (3) The Mau Mau movement in Kenya, the rise of the Kimbangist and New Zion Churches in the Belgian Congo; (3) the origin and spread of Mormonism in the U.S. during the nineteenth century, the rise of Islam in Arabia and subsequent Islamic movements, such as the  Mahdist movement in the Sudan and the Tijaniya movement in West Africa. 

After examining a variety of religious movements in so many diverse areas, we will then turn our attention to the origin of Christianity in Roman Palestine in order to illustrate how an anthropological perspective can be used to explain the origin and evolution of Christianity in the same way that this perspective has been applied to the other religious movements we have studied.  We will begin by our discussion of the origin of Christianity by discussing the political revolt led by Judah Maccabees which liberated Judea from Seleucid (Greek) rule. We will examine the political economy of Palestine during the first centuries BCE and CE in order to understand the sociopolitical context within which Jesus and his followers lived and within which early Christianity emerged.  In particular, we will focus on the Roman colonial administration in Judea and its policies, the political rule of the Herods, the sociopolitical activity of the Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, Sicari and the many bandits, prophets and messianic claimants of that time. We will also examine the sect at Qumran (the Essenes), who authored what are known today as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Having done this, we will critically examine the New Testament itself, concentrating on the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, John and Thomas, the Epistles of Paul, and the Acts of the Apostles.  Using, linguistic, contextual, stylistic and pattern analysis, we will attempt to place each of these sources within their social and historical context in order to get a better understanding of how the historical Jesus evolved into the Jesus of mythology and how this was related to specific sociopolitical factors underlying the evolution of Christianity and the Christian Church.   In particular, we will focus on the conflict that developed shortly after Jesus' death between the Jerusalem Christians led by James (Jesus' brother) and the Gentile Christians led by Paul.  We will also examine the conflict that developed during the second through fourth centuries between Orthodox and Gnostic Christians.  It is absolutely necessary to understand these conflicts in order to critically read and interpret surviving Christian writings dealing with the life and times of Jesus. The conflict between Orthodox and Gnostic factions within the early Church and the eventual ascendancy of Orthodox Church leaders under Constantine had a profound effect on subsequent Christian dogma, on the writing and editing of the New Testament, on the success and spread of Christianity, and on the politics of heresy in Western European history.

Examinations:

The following procedures will be used to arrive at a student's final grade:

1.    Mid-term exam (multiple-choice and essay):

2.    Final exam (cumulative, multiple-choice and essay)

3.    Research paper and presentation

4.    Evaluations

5.    Class participation 

20%

20%

30%

10%

20%

Research Paper:

1.    Each student must undertake a research paper that examines a specific religious movement from an anthropological perspective. A list of such movements will be provided.  The research paper should be approximately 15 pages long (4,000-5,000 words).  Students must submit their topic in writing no later than Tuesday, February 1st.

2.   All assignments submitted in relation to the research paper MUST be typed. Handwritten materials will NOT be accepted. Also, ALL research papers must be properly referenced and follow the APA referencing style.  NOTE: Internet sources will be accepted as valid bibliographic references only in special circumstances and very sparingly.

3.    All students are expected to meet with the instructor to discuss the progress of his or her paper. This will help improve the quality of the final paper and, thus, the grade that the paper receives. 

4.    A library instruction class has been scheduled to help students with their research.  Students will need to obtain research materials that are, for the most part, not available in the Trexler Library in order to complete the research paper for this course.  This will necessitate either travel to other libraries in the Lehigh Valley or extensive use of Interlibrary Loan services through the campus library.  Students should be aware that obtaining research materials through Interlibrary Loan may take several weeks and should, therefore, start their research papers as soon as possible.  Not receiving sufficient sources in time to analyze your subject and write your paper will seriously affect the quality of the paper you submit and, therefore, the grade your paper receives.  Not receiving your Interlibrary Loan sources in time to complete your paper is NOT a valid excuse for an incomplete or inadequate paper. 

5.   Although the primary concern is with the quality of the ideas and analysis presented, essays and research papers will also be evaluated in terms of their adherence to accepted writing standards.  They must be typed clearly and legibly. They must also be organized, grammatically correct and free from spelling errors. Papers must, therefore, be carefully proof-read before they are submitted.  A sloppy and poorly written paper will not receive as high a grade as a comparable paper which is neat and clearly written, which expresses a coherent theme, which is well referenced, and which contains few spelling and grammatical errors.  Having an idea that you cannot express clearly and concisely is not much better than not having the idea at all.  All students are, therefore, strongly encouraged to make use of the Campus Writing Center.

6.   The following schedule will be followed in completing the research paper. Grades will be calculated for each stage in the production of the research paper and will be combined to calculate the overall grade for a student's research paper.

Grading Policy:

1.   ALL assignments and examinations MUST be completed or taken at the time scheduled.  Make-up tests will only be given in the event of an emergency and will receive 10-point reduction in grade for each day they are late (i.e., a score of 80 on a make-up test or paper will be recorded as a 70, 60 50, etc).  The grade on any exam not taken or assignment not completed will be zero.  Similarly, incomplete course grades (I) will be reduced by 10 points when they are completed.

2.   ALL materials assigned for reading or presented or discussed in class (including films) will potentially  be included in examinations.

3.   Attendance will not be taken, but absence from class is NOT an acceptable excuse for a student's failure to complete an assignment or examination.  It is the student's responsibility to obtain the necessary information on days that he or she misses class.  In addition, a student who regularly misses class cannot expect special consideration in the event of poor grades.  Furthermore, 20% of a student’s grade in the course is based on participation, which includes both attendance and participation in class discussions.  Everyone in the class begins with a "C" (73) for participation, and an individual's grade increases or decreases depending on the quality of their participation.  While I don’t grade down for one or two classes missed, I do expect students to attend all classes, and excessive absences result in a reduced grade for participation.  (Obviously, if a student is not in class, participation for that day is zero.)  I also assign a higher participation grade for those students who come to class prepared to contribute positively to class discussions or who discuss issues with me through email.  Conversely, I assign a lower grade for those students who come to class unprepared, who do not participate in class discussions or whose classroom behavior is either inappropriate or disruptive.

4.   In the final analysis, responsibility for completing all course requirements rests with the student. If the student has any doubt on any matter regarding the course, he or she should contact the instructor BEFORE the problem becomes insurmountable.  One of the benefits of the small size of the Muhlenberg Campus is the potential that exist for easy faculty-student contact.

5.    Plagiarism constitutes a violation of the Academic Behavior Code and will be dealt with VERY STRICTLY.  Depending on the nature of the plagiarism, a student could receive a failing grade for the course; be referred to the Dean's Office for judicial review; and have a "VF" (violation of Academic Behavior Code) grade entered on their transcripts.  If a student is in doubt about a specific situation, it is his or her responsibility to consult the instructor or some other appropriate person (such as a librarian or writing tutor) for clarification.

WEEK OF:

READING ASSIGNMENT

1-19

thru

2-2

"Web of Religion"

William Blake

I Strip for God

1.   Sagan, The Burden of Skepticism.

2.   Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection.

3.   Thagard, Why Astrology is a Pseudoscience.

4.   Abruzzi, The Myth of Chief Seattle.

5.   Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln, “Scholarship and Public Understanding” [R]

*     *     *

6.   Lastrucci, "What Science Is." [R]

7.   Kunkel, "Methodological Considerations"  [R]

8.   Abruzzi, Science and Anthropology.

*     *     *

9.   Harris and Johnson, "Religion." [R]

10.   Southwold, "Buddhism and the Definition of Religion." [R]

11.   Owen, "Preslianity: Religious Devotion to Elvis Presley in America." [R]

Saint. Elvis the Divine

*     *     *

12.   Harris, "Mother Cow" in Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches.

13.   Odend'hal. "Energetics of Indian Cattle in Their Environment." [R]

* Sacred Cow (ppt)

*     *     *

"Creator:  a comedian whose audience is afraid to laugh."

--H.L. Menken

"A concern with knowing the world, rather than advocating a view of the world because it confirms some political, ideological, or religious project, has always been fundamental to scientific philosophy." 

  --Lawrence Kuznar, Reclaiming a Scientific Anthropology (1997)

2-9 & 2-16

I was born okay the first time.

*     *     *

Militant Islam

*     *     *

Right to Life Movement

Religion: Nigeria's latest flashpoint

India:  When religion and freedom clash

Murder in God's Name

A Palestinian Bomber's Mother Speaks Out

1.    Evans-Pritchard, "The Nuer Concept of Spirit in Relation to the Social Order." [R]

2.    Kurtz, “Virgin of Guadalupe and the Politics of Becoming Human.” [R]

*     *     *

3.    Silberman, “Who Were the Israelites?” [R]

4.    Genesis & Exodus.

5.    Abruzzi, Geneology, Politics, History (and a Little Sex) in the Bible.

*     *     *

6.    Simmons, “Pueblo Witchcraft”,  “The Tragedy of Nambe”, “The Zuni Plague of Witchcraft.” In Witchcraft in the Southwest. [R]

7.    Harris, "Broomsticks and Sabbats" &"The Great Witch Craze." in Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches.

*     *     *

8.    Horwitz, "Dying for Dixie." [R]

9.    Articles on Sharia in northern Nigeria.

*     *     *

10.   Cohen, Custom and Politics in Urban Africa.

Religion and Politics in Jakarta

*     *     *

Ashoura

2-23 & 3-1

Atheism is a non-Prophet Organization.

John Frum Cult

Jim Jones at Jonestown

Tenskwatawa

Shawnee Prophet

(1775-1837)

1.  Wolf, "The Social Organization of Mecca  and the Origins of Islam." [R]

2.   Harris, "Phantom Cargo." in Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches.

3.   Worsley. The Trumpet Shall Sound, Introduction to both the First and Second Editions & Chapters 1-4. [R]

*     *     *

4.   O'Dea, "Who Are the Mormons? in The Mormons. [R]

5.   Stegner,  "Forty Thousand Saints in One Act." in Mormon Country. [R]

*     *     *

6.   Banton, "African Prophets." [R]

7.   Martin, "Kimbanguism: A Prophet and His Church." in Hesselgrave, Dynamic Religious Movements. [R]. 

*     *     *

8.   Connor, "From Ghost Dance to Death Camps: Nazi Germany as a Crisis Cult." [R]

9.   Schuyler & Trinh, The Apocalypse at Jonestown.

10.   Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown, National Public Radio.

Uganda: Unholy Children’s Crusade

3-15

God, protect me from your followers!

The Ghost Dance

Wovoka

The Paiute Prophet

1.   Kehoe, The Ghost Dance.

FILM:  Ghost Dance [R]

Death at Wounded Knee

The Religious Divide in America

America is one of the most religious countries in the industrialised world. Over 80% of Americans claim to believe in God, compared with 62% of the French and 52% of Swedes. About two-thirds of Americans claim membership of a church, 40% go to church once a week, and 43% describe themselves as born-again Christians. Three times as many people believe in the Virgin birth as in evolution.  . . .  But America is also one of the most secular countries in the world. The constitution guarantees a rigorous separation of church and state, and secular groups are assiduous in using the courts to enforce that separation. (On February 25th, the Supreme Court ruled that states could withhold scholarships from students studying divinity.) Public schools recoil from even the mildest religious imagery. More than 29m Americans say that they have “no religion”, a number that exceeds all but two religious denominations, Roman Catholics and Baptists. For the most part, the people who run America's media industries in New York and Hollywood are aggressively secular, combining intellectual hostility to Middle America's religious fundamentalists with a generous measure of cultural disdain.

--The Economist (February 28-04)

3-29

Jesus and the Zealots

1.   Harris, "Messiahs" in Cows  Pigs, Wars, and Witches.

2.   Maccabees 1 & 2.  Bible Gateway

3.   Asimov, The New Testament, Chapters 3-4.

MAP: Palestine under the Maccabees

*     *     *

4.   Horsley and Hanson, Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs.

MAP: Land of Israel in the 1^st Century

4-5 thru 4-19

The Jesus Movement

If you are born again, do you have two belly buttons?

Saints and Relics and Other Weird Stuff

Bible Maps

1.   Funk, Hoover, and The Jesus Seminar, "Introduction", The Five Gospels. (R)

2.   New Testament: Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John.  Bible Gateway

3.   Asimov, The New Testament: Chapters 5-8.

MAP: Palestine in the 1^st Century

*     *     *

4.   Harris, "The Secret of the Prince of   Peace," in Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches.

5.   Abruzzi, The Jesus Movement.

6.   Brandon, “Jesus and the Zealots.” in Jesus and the Zealots. [R]

FILM:  From Jesus to Christ [R]

*     *     *

7.   Brandon, "Suffered Under Pontius Pilate: The Problem of the Roman Execution of Jesus." in Jesus and the Zealots. [R]

8.   W.R. Wilson, "The Trial." in Jesus: A Life. [R].

9.   A.N. Wilson, “The Execution of Jesus.”  [R]

10.   Fox, "Jesus on Trial." in The Unauthorized Version. [R]

*     *     *

11.   Wells, “Introduction” in The Historical Evidence for Jesus, and “The Reliability of the Gospels,” in Who Was Jesus? [R]

12.   Frederickson, "Images of Jesus in the Gospels and Paul.." [R]

13.  Court and Court, “The New Testament World.” [R]

14.  Silberman, “Searching for Jesus: The Politics of First-Century Judea.” [R]

15.   Frederickson, From Jesus to Christianity.

MAP: Roman Empire

The Greatest Action Story Ever Told

A Slightly Different Version

of the Original Story

Gifts for the Irreverent

Jesus on the Beach

4-26 & 5-3

Early Christianity and the Politics of Heresy

Christianity has Pagan DNA.

1.   New Testament: “Acts of the Apostles,” Bible Gateway

2.   Asimov, New Testament, "Acts of the Apostles"

3.   Eisenman, “Introduction” & Chapters 1-6 in James: The Brother of Jesus. [R]

MAP: Expansion of Christianity

*     *     *

4.   Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels

5.   Schaberg, "How Mary Magdalene Became a Whore." (Bible Review, October, 1992). [R]

6.   The Gospel of Thomas

7.   The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

8.   The Gospel of Phillip

The Nag Hammadi Library

FILM:  Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci [R]

*     *     *

9.   The Albigensian Crusade

10.   Harris, "The Great Witch Craze." in Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches.

 The Mary Magdalene Reliquary (above left) is located in a crypt beneath the Basilica to Mary Magdalene in Saint Maximin de Provence, France (above center) where Mary Magdalene is purportedly buried.  The reliquary contains what  many believe is Mary Magdalene's skull (see above right).  According to local beliefs, Mary Magdalene left Palestine with Mary (the mother of Jesus) and Mary (the aunt of Jesus) and landed at what is today known as Sts. Marie de la Mer, a small village on the Mediterranean south of St. Maximin.  According to local tradition, Jesus' mother and aunt remained in Sts. Marie de la Mer, while Mary Magdalene left the village to live naked (with just her long hair covering her body) as a hermit for 33 years in a cave at Baume (southeast of St. Maximin).   Each year in late May, Gypsies converge on Sts. Marie de la Mer to celebrate the landing of the three Maries in southern France.