Department of Religious Studies

Why are some Christian churches filled with statues and pictures while others are largely bare except for a cross? Why do some Christians venerate the Eucharist as a sacrament while others believe reading and talking about the Bible should be the focus of worship? In this course we will examine how these different perspectives emerged and clashed—often violently—in the course of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. Did the Protestant Reformation, in all its manifestations, successfully “spiritualize” Christianity? How did it influence subsequent assumptions about the authority of the Bible? This historical focus will allow us to also examine theoretical questions central to the study of religion and culture today: Who cares about ritual? When and why? What is the relationship between ritual and belief, and how does this relationship vary within and between religious traditions? Work will include weekly posts, a take-home midterm and final, and an independent research project.

CASE A&H, CASE GCC

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