MI689/789/889: Tutorial Seminar: Jesus in Other Religions (8 units)

Wilbert R. Shenk, Faculty of Record
Jan A.B. Jongeneel, Lecturing Faculty
Fall 2005 Pasadena

 

 

DESCRIPTION:

Scholars in a wide variety of religious traditions have written about Jesus Christ, but no one has attempted to evaluate this extensive body of writings. Professor Jongeneel will give a series of lectures, based on the major research and writing project on this topic in which he is presently engaged, on the way the Christ figure is depicted in other religions. This material can be studied from various angles: historical, theological, religious, and missiological. Students will attend the 1-week series of lectures and then write a tutorial (40-50 pages/10,000-12,500 words) under the supervision of Professor Shenk on some aspect of this general theme.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

· Knowledge of the way the Christ figure is depicted in other religious traditions.
· Familiarity with an important body of literature that will broaden and deepen appreciation of Jesus Christ.
· Ability to compare and contrast the way Jesus Christ is viewed in the Christian tradition and another religious tradition.

 

COURSE FORMAT:

Reading will be completed BEFORE the one-week seminar begins. Students will then attend the one-week seminar, Monday-Friday, October 31-November 4, 1-5 p.m. Following the seminar, students will write a tutorial (40-50 pages/10,000-12,500 words) under the supervision of Professor Shenk.

 

REQUIRED READING: This reading is to be completed before attending the seminar.

Clinton Bennett, In Search of Jesus: Insider and Outsider Images. London; New York: Continuum, 2001. This will serve as main textbook.
David F. Ford and M. Higton, eds. Jesus. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture. Yale University Press, 1985;
repr. 1999.

 

RECOMMENDED READING:

Donald A. Hagner, The Jewish Reclamation of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Academie Books,1984.
M.M. Thomas, The Acknowledged Christ of the Indian Renaissance. 3rd edn. Madras: CLS, 1991.
Oddbjorn Leirvik, Images of Jesus Christ in Islam. Uppsala: Swedish Institute of Missionary Research, 1999.
Stanley J. Samartha, One Christ – Many Religions: Toward a Revised Christology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1991.

 

READING FOCUSED ON STUDENT’S TUTORIAL: A 48-page bibliography will be made available at the seminar to facilitate research.

 

ASSIGNMENTS:

· Read 1,000 pages from the Required Reading list. The student will write five 1-page (250 words) summaries of each book or article read in conjunction with the week of lectures.
· Participate actively in the seminar sessions.
· Write a 40- to 50-page (10 to 12,000 words) research paper on the way Jesus is presented in another religious tradition and make a missiological evaluation of this interpretation. An outline of the paper and its structuring will be provided.

 

PREREQUISITES: Each student must be enrolled in a Th.M., D.Miss., or Ph.D. program.

 

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.

 

FINAL EXAM: None.

 

Last Date Edited: June 20, 2005