Catalog Search Results
Publisher
Kanopy Streaming
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Start with the metaphysical concept of reality and how it led to a scientific worldview. Then see how the scientific picture of reality changes as theories are refined or overthrown. Explore examples such as the germ theory of disease and philosopher Thomas Kuhn’s influential idea of paradigm shifts.
Publisher
A&E
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
In CULTS AND EXTREME BELIEF, Elizabeth Vargas, alongside former members of controversial organizations, goes on a search to uncover how these sects use their influence to prey upon people’s desperation to create powerful and often destructive belief systems. Each episode will take an immersive look at one currently active group through the eyes of past devotees and get perspective from believers and leaders that are still inside.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Finally, uncover Gnostic themes in the science fiction novels of Philip K. Dick and the films Blade Runner and The Matrix, and learn about the contemporary Gnostic Christian Church. Consider what truly links the religious movements we've studied, and what their ultimate message to us may be.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Explore the special power and authority that sacred texts have for religious practitioners, and how some people invoke these stories and images to legitimize violence. Consider several prevalent themes found in sacred texts like the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Qur'an: vengeful deities, holy wars, and holy suffering.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Chart the origins of prophecy in ancient Israel, with prophecy seen during ecstatic, trancelike spiritual practices. Observe how Samuel, the last judge, initiated monarchy among the Israelites, appointing Saul as king. Trace the disastrous reign of David, and the story of Bathsheba. Then meet the wise Solomon, builder of the first temple to Israel's God.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Conclude by examining a recurrent image within the Old Testament: the figure of the dragon as the personification of evil. Look back through the Old Testament at the metaphor of dragon-slaying, at the hands of God, and explore its appearance within earlier mythic traditions. Through multiple references, see how this unusual metaphor constitutes an analogy for human suffering and redemption.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Here, delve into the story of the Garden of Eden. Grasp God's purpose in creating humans as beings that are both material and spiritual. Consider the significance of the god-like role given to Adam to name other creatures. Learn how woman was created as a counterpart (and even rescuer) of man, and how the creation story accounts for a world that is not what God intended.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
Conclude your immersion in the Daodejing with this examination of some of its most important aspects. Take in its perspectives on the nature of the universe, the subtlety and suppleness of virtue, the value of "negativity," and the delicacy of life.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
In approaching Christian scripture, trace the complex origins of the New Testament, beginning with the letters of Paul and the Gospels. Follow the proliferation of later Christian texts and how they were categorized, and study the composition of the first complete Christian Bibles in comparison with more recent versions and translations.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
A second body of Hindu sacred writings encompasses literature, texts that explore the nature of dharma, the eternal laws and principles that give meaning and shape to life. Here, discover two great Indian epics: the Ramayana, a mythic narrative of kingship; and the Mahabharata, a complex story of familial bonds and discord.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Discover how religious violence is almost always justified by portraying its targets as something other than human, or as malevolent. Professor Bivins explains how the social process of Other-ing has led religions to process and create fear through scapegoats, demons and monsters, false gods, and Antichrist figures.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2021.
Language
English
Description
Examine the three distinct sections of Isaiah: first, the prophet's stern denunciation of social injustice, and his intimation of a new era of peace under a messianic king; next, a promise of restoration and redemption for Israel, through the figure of the "Suffering Servant"_x009d_; and finally, the vision of a post-exile Jerusalem, where all peoples are included within the worship of God.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Study how Valentinus's radical spirituality spread, and how the movement interacted with other contemporary forms of Christianity. Then investigate its mythological construct of the universe as composed of three elements: matter, spirit, and soul. One of these predominates in each individual human being, crucially influencing their spiritual destiny.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
Readings from John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" reveal the first purely individualistic doctrine of the meaning of life encountered in the course. Mill presents the strongest possible defense of the connection between a meaningful life and a liberal social order.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
What is the meaning of life? How do we find that meaning? To whom should we listen as we shape the path we will walk through the world? This course is an invigorating way to begin or continue your pursuit of these and other questions. Embark on an intellectually gripping course that is every bit the equal of the monumental subject it sets out to explore.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Focus here on a very specific aspect of Other-ing: the idea of different races as the objects of religious violence. First, examine how religions generate racial ideas. Then, take a closer look at two very different expressions of racial religion: white supremacist Christianity and the Nation of Islam.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
The remarkable oral tradition in Islam mandates that the Qur'an be recited and regards memorization as an act of devotion. Delve into the Qur'an's origins in the life of Muhammad, the conception of its text as direct revelation, and its recitation as a sophisticated and esteemed art form.
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