An analysis of key themes in Wesleyan theology, a survey of the historical development of Methodism, and discussion of key issues and trends in Methodism today. An historical and sociological study of the Fundamentalist movement among American evangelical Christians, focusing especially on its distinctive expressions of faith, its anti-modern cultural emphases, and its character as an identifiable population. An attempt to understand and to analyze what contemporary social institutions, the arts, politics, and philosophy reveal about Americans' religious perceptions, especially with respect to the nature of human life and of the world in which they live, and about their religious experiences. A study of environmental ethics, animal rights, and religious perspectives which seek to address these issues. Emphasis is on philosophical and religious issues rather than on practical problems, though the course involves a brief survey of ways in which the Earth is exploited and animals are abused.
Religious options considered include Christian and native American perspectives.
Some prior interest in environmental ethics or animal rights recommended. A study of the relation between Christian beliefs and contemporary scientific perspectives. Special focus on theistic understandings of biological evolution and on evolutionary understandings of theism. Attention also given for implications for Christian faith of developments in contemporary physics and to the role of science in the modern world. An exploration of the various forms of mysticism, meditation, and prayer.