       
 
| |
Class Notes for 07-221
Justifying Religious Beliefs
University of Windsor, Fall Semester, 2006
Last Updated: December 15, 2006
Dr. B. L. Whitney, B.A., Ph.D.
Email: whitney@uwindsor.ca
OFFICIAL
CLASS OUTLINE (click
this link for the "Official Class Outine")
REQUIRED TEXTS
1. Kreeft, Handbook
of Christian Apologetics
2. Sire, Why Should
Anyone Believe Anything at All?
3. Web documents (free)
Reference (optional): Yeager Hudson, The
Philosophy of Religion
Reference (optional): D. Basinger, et al., Reason
and Religious Belief
*The Hudson and Basinger texts, among other expensive texts were used in past
versions of this course when the class was filled with Religious Studies, Asian
Studies and and Philosophy majors. New books have been chosen these past 2 or
3 years to present the material in a more simplified manner and to reduce the
cost to students, supplemented more and more by free web documents of high caliber
scholarship..
WEEKLY
OUTLINE of TOPICS and ASSIGNED READINGS
Specific readings will be listed here
for each week's class; the schedule is flexible and tentative
insofar as the selection and amount of material assigned
and the speed at which the class proceeds will be determined
by the flow of the class -- specifically, how well the material
is being understood and appropriated. As
such, only the readings entered in
the box below are "assigned"
as "required readings." The
professor may decide to remove one or more of these assigned
readings as a requirement for Tests if the item has not been
discussed in class. The
detailed lists of topics and readings below the box list potential
and optional reference readings: not all of these will be officially
assigned and further readings are continually being added to
the detailed list as the professor finds new relevant web documents,
some of which may then be officially assigned.
*Note: The
schedule listed here will be revised each week to reflect
what was actually covered in completed classes (so far,
weeks 1-5) and what is assigned for upcoming classes
(week 6 and following)
*Note
also: Missed
Tests: The Department of Languages,
LIteratures, and Cultures has determined that students
who miss Tests for legitimate reasons will be allowed
to write makeup tests -- with the permission of the professor
-- on the first Friday after the missed test. A room
will be reserved with a proctor for the writing of these
makeup Tests. The time is 1:00pm. The
student must contact the professor at least 3 days before
the makeup Test date to confirm his/her intention to
be present. At that time, the professor will prepare
the Test and confirm the building and room
number: likely the room will be Lambton, 6103
or if there are too many students taking the tests, the
room will be Lambton, 7118. There
is no other option because of the alarming number of makeup
tests that have to be arranged for student in all of the
department's classes. These
cannot be done on an individual basis for dozens of students
in separate rooms and times.
- - - - -
Week 1: Sept
07: JUSTIFYING RELIGIOUS BELIEFS: BASICS: *Overheads-1:
1-33
Week 2: Sept 14: "Study Skills" presentation;
Sire text, chapters 1-6 *detailed study
Week 3: Sept 21: Continue the discussion of Sire, chapters
1-6 *detailed study
Week 4: Sept 28: Leffel,
Testing Basic Beliefs; Overheads on Faithism,
Critical Rationalism, Strong Rationalism
Week 5: Oct 05: TEST 1: 4:00-4:50,
1118 ER: students A-L; 5:00-5:50, students M-Z; *Test
One Information
Week 6: Oct 12: Worldview
Tests; Logical
Fallacies 1, 2;
Justifying Beliefs: Overheads #17-19
Week 7: Oct 19: GOD'S EXISTENCE: Kreeft book, chapters
1 and 2; Kreeft, ch 3 (sections 1-3, 7); *Overheads-2:
1-5
Week 8: Oct 26: Kreeft text, ch 3 (section 5); Who
Created God?; Sire, ch 6 (philosophical); Evidence
for God?
Week 9: Nov 02: TEST 2:
4:00-5:00, Ambassador Auditorium, CAW Centre (all students):
*Test Two Information
Week 10: Nov 09: --- MIRACLES: Kreeft,
ch 5 (109-14); [Geisler:
Refutation
of Criticisms of Miracles: reference]
Week 11:
Nov 16:
Miracles; Testing
Miracles;
Fulfilled
Prophesies #1, [#2:
reference]; Kreeft,
ch 8
Week 12: Nov 23: Evidence for
Resurrection; [Keathley:
reference: vs false theories re: Jesus' resurrection]
Week 13: Nov 30: ---
Week 14: Dec 07: --- U of W classes end December 6
---
Week 15: Dec 14: FINAL EXAM: 3:30,
1101 Education Building
*Information
about the Final Exam: The Exam will be
multiple choice, and while it will test new information
from the final 3 weeks, it is partly cumulative insofar
as basic items from the material covered by tests
1 and 2 will be included-- these will be listed
here soon. Regarding the readings for the final
3 weeks: rather than assigning
complex scholarly articles (which are available in
the lists below this box), shorter and far less complex
articles have been assigned. This risks oversimplifying
the material, but there is no time in this course
for a more detailed study of this material: a new
course being prepared will do this detailed study.
The Kreeft book chapters assigned are fairly
straightforward and can be summarized quite easily.
Keep checking this section
for updates about the Final Exam and for more specific
information about the *FINAL
EXAM PREP: LIST
of ASSIGNED READINGS
to be included on the Final Exam |
|
DETAILED
OUTLINE of TENTATIVE TOPICS and READINGS
Only the readings listed
in the box above are "assigned";
the readings listed below are optional references only!
SECTION 1: An Introduction to Apologetics/Philosophy
of Religion
SIRE TEXT: Why Should Anyone Believe
Anything at All? (chapters
1-6)
KREEFT TEXT, Handbook, chapters
1 and 2
WADE, Web:
Introduction to Apologetics
GROOTHIUS,
Web: Enemies of Apologetics
GEISLER, Web:
The Need for Apologetics
DULLE, Web:
Why Theology is important
LEFFEL: Web:
Testing Basic Beliefs
CARM. Web:
Logical Fallacies 1 and Logical Fallacies 2
STATS:
(from 07-100: "Religion
and Culture" course)
Web: World
Population
Web:
World Religions (chart only):
major religions: numbers, percentage of total populations
Web:
Barna USA Religious Beliefs (charts):
5 segments: percentages, profiles, main beliefs
Web:
Barna USA Growing Relativism: (charts):
5 age groups re: moral decision-making
Web:
Religious Beliefs of Scientists
Web:
Worldview of the Media (Probe)
Web:
Beliefs of Ivy League Professors (FrontPage)
Web:
Canada: Religious Beliefs, 2001 StatsCan 1 (tables:
#1, #5, #6, #8
Web:
Canadia: Religious Beliefs, 2001 StatsCan 2 (charts
only): #1,
#2, # 4, #5
SECTION
2: DEFENDING BELIEF in GOD'S EXISTENCE
[A] GOD'S EXISTENCE
KREEFT TEXT,
Handbook, chapter 3 (#s 1-3, 7, 5, 8, 14, 15),
chapter 15
SIRE TEXT, Why Should Anyone Believe,
ch 12
KREEFT, Web:
Reasons to Believe (5 arguments for God's Existence)
SARFATI, Web:
Who Created God?
WADE, Web:
Pascal's Wager
BLOOM, Web:
Why Isn't the Evidence Clearer?
CHRISTOPHER, Web:
The Moral Argument
Alston,
Web:
The Experiential Basis of Belief in God
ROSS, Web:
Anthropic Evidences
Reference: Web:
Arguments against naturalistic evolution: See, for example, Bohlin's several
articles
Note: 07-221 discusses this issue only in an introductory way: more detailed
discussions of Religion and Science is found in 07-322 as well as more detailed
discussions of the theistic arguments for God
[B] GOD'S NATURE/ATTRIBUTES
KREEFT TEXT, Handbook, chapters
4 (Christian Theism)
LITKE, Web:
The Attributes of God
CARM, Web: The
Christian Doctrine of God; Trinity,
etc.
Web: Christian Theism compared to Muslim Theism (several documents from
differing perspectives)
Web: Christian Theism and Christian Deviations (counterfeit Christianity:
several documents re: several groups)
Reference Text: Hudson Philosophy
of Religion (ch 2)
Reference Text: Keathley, What
God is Like
Note: 07-100 and 07-322 discuss
this theme in more detail
SECTION
3: DEFENDING BELIEF in MIRACLES and the BIBLE
Biblical Trustworthiness and Jesus' Character,
Claims, Actions: Miracles, Fulfilled Prophesy
[A]
MIRACLES
KREEFT TEXT, Handbook, chapter
5 (pgs 109-114)
KREEFT, Web: Miracles
CRAIG, Web:
Miracles
GEISLER,
Web:
Miracles
SWINBURNE: Web: Miracles
DOXA: Miracles and Tests
CARM,
Web:
Can Miracles Happen?
CARM,
Web:
Can Miracles be Explained Naturalistically?
[B]
BIBLICAL AUTHENTICITY
KREEFT TEXT, Handbook,
chapter 9
WADE, Web: Divine
Revelation
MORELAND, Web:
Biblical Historicity
BIBLICAL HISTORICITY: Web:
Historicity of the Bible
BIBLICAL AUTHENTICITY: Web:
Authenticity of the Bible
BIBLICAL AUTHENTICITY: Web:
Authenticity of the Biblical Documents
CARM,
Web:
Authenticity of the Biblical Documents)
CARM,
Evidence
of non-biblical texts
CARM,
When
were the Gospels Written?
FERNANDES,
New
Testament Reliability
HAWKINS, Web:
Archeaology and The Book of Acts
ZUKERMAN, Web:
Archeaology and the New Testament
ZUKERMAN: Web:
Archeaology and the Old Testament
NASH,
Web:
The Alleged Influence of Greek Mystery Cults Disputed
Web: Christianity and Liberal scholarship (Da VInci Code, etc)
[C] JESUS AS DIVINE
KREEFT TEXT, Handbook,
chapter 7
HOLDING,
Divine
Claims of Jesus
DAVIS,
Why
the Historical Jesus Matters
[D] BIBLICAL PROPHESIES
CARM,
Prophesy,
the Bible and Jesus
KEATHLEY,
Prophesies About Jesus Fulfilled
WRIGHT,
Web:
371 prophesies
[E]
JESUS' RESURRECTION
KREEFT TEXT, Handbook,
chapter 8
Web:
The Resurrection of Jesus
KEATHLEY,
Web: False Theories Against
the Resurrection
KEATHLEY,
Web: Evidence for the Resurrection
SECTION 3: DEFENDING
BELIEF in Life After Death, Heaven, Hell
reeft TEXT, Handbook, chapters
10-12, etc.
Web: KREEFT, Life
After Death 1
Kreeft, Life
After Death 2
Web: Parapsychology
and Life After Death
Web: Paranormal
2
Web: Stats (life
after death)
Web:
Is
Life After Death Reasonable?
Web:
Near Death Experiences
Web:
Salvation,
Religious Pluralism Web: Religious Pluralism
Web:
Salvation in World Religions ...
Web: . . .
|
|
 |