RELI 187 - Spirit, Flesh & Body: An Introduction to Christian Theology

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

This introduction focuses on the relationship between spirituality and embodiment in Christian thought, ritual, and ethics. Religion 187 provides an overview of the historical development of Christianity while integrating analyses of contemporary communities, literatures, and practices. The main question that guides the class is how Christians in different times and places experience the gap between spirit and flesh. How does this binary apply to notions of the human being, the interpretation of divine revelation, and political movements? Over the course of the semester, students will examine Christian concepts of the relationship between body and spirit for the ways in which they have been used to legitimate as well as subvert social hierarchies and forge new communities. Klaus Yoder.

Two 75-minute periods.