Here is what you should read for this unit: Chapter One, “An Invitation to the Study of World Religions”
Once you have read that, please answer the following questions:
1) Create a brief outline of the development of the study of world religions.
2) Describe the difference(s) between the academic study of world religions and theology.
3) What is the “definitional challenge” in the study of religion?
4) On page 12, the author proposes that the religions ask three “especially prominent” questions. What are these three questions? What do they (possibly) mean?
5) Why is violence sometimes associated with religious identity? (To be fair, I would argue that the willingness to use violence is associated with almost any human ideology, not just religion, but this is a religion course, so we ask the question).
6) How are the perceptions of women’s participation in religious traditions changing with modernity (in general terms)?
