Phenomenology of Religion

Aim of the Course

Beginning with man's experience of the ultimate reality, the first section of this course analyses the phenomenological structures of religious experience and its expressions. It thus aims at helping the students understand the fundamental structures of the main religions in multi-religious Malaysia.

The second part of the course deals with the Christian view of the plurality of religions and the Church's stand towards them. It server to introduce and integrate the study of the other religions: Islam and Sikhism and Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism.

Course Content

Section 1: Phenomenology of Religion:

-Phenomenology of Religion

-Types of Religious Experience

Expression of Religious Experience in Thought, Action, Fellowship

Section 2: Theology of Non-Christian Religions:

-Religious Exclusivism, Inclusivism and Pluralism

-The Church's Teaching on Other Religions and Responses

Assessment

To be confirmed

Select Bibliography

Section 1: Phenomenology of Religion:

Donovan, Interpreting Religious Experience, New York, The Seabury Press, 1979.

Wach, J, The Comparative Study of Religions, New York, Columbia University Press, 1961.

Van Der Leeuw, G, Religion in Essence and Manifestation. New Jersey, Princeton University Press, London, 1950.

Section 2: Theology of Non-Christian Religions:

John Paul II, Redemptorist Missio

McBrien, Rc, Catholicism, Geoffrey Chapman, London 1994

Ratzinger, J, Dominus lesus on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Ratzinger, J, Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religion, Ignatius Press, San Francisco 2003

Dupius, J. Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, Gujarat 2001

Hick, J, the Myth of Christian Uniqueness

Kintter, P F a Pluralistic Theology of Religion, Maryknoll N. Y, Obis Books 1987

Lecture Hours

To be confirmed

Lecturer

Fr. Stanley Antoni and other External Lecturers