Department of Religious Studies

Are we born bad? Selfish and greedy? Do we have a difficult time understanding why we do what we do? Of acting on behalf of others rather than ourselves? Are humans rational creatures? Or are we driven by emotions and desires that we often only dimly understand? These are questions you might encounter in a psychology class. They are some of the questions that neuroscientists and other empirical sciences seek to answer. But they are also the questions addressed by the religious doctrine of original sin, in some of the most formative and influential texts ever written. In this class we’ll demonstrate the enduring relevance of religious texts to contemporary questions of human psychology.

GenEd A&H, CASE A&H, CAPP

• A&H
• CAPP
• What are CASE requirements?