Comparative World Religions and Building Your Own Theology

Deepen your religious literacy and your own theology with this study of world religions. 

Six sessions over three months  - two hours each
In-person in Denver at Kelly's home.
November 5 and 19, 2019 
December 3 and 17, 2019
January 7 and 14, 2020
2:30 -4:30 PM
Email me if you are interested!  kgdignan@gmail.com

I'd love to host an online version using Zoom, so email me if that sounds good, and I will form a group.
​
Suggested donation for whole course: $120

Description:
In God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World, New York Times bestselling author and religion scholar Stephen Prothero argues that persistent attempts to portray all religions as different paths to the same God overlook the distinct problem that each tradition seeks to solve. He describes the different problems that Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Yoruba Religion, Taoism and Atheism strive to solve.

The book offers lots of information! While you are encouraged to read it, Kelly will provide an overview of each chapter during our sessions together. There will be discussion questions that help us explore each religion more deeply. We will also use other sources that offer the mystical or more spiritual aspects of each religion. Kelly will include a section on indigenous spirituality and how you can get in touch with the beliefs and practices of the ancient ones in your lineage.  

Each session will begin with a time of meditation to help us get centered in our hearts and remember that spiritual work involves the head but eventually comes back to the heart. 

You will also have a chance to consider your own theology as you work through this course. Traditionally, theology has to do with the study of God or divine things, but there is another definition as well: The study of the meanings, values, and convictions from which we live. We are all theologians. We can develop our own theologies (meaning-making systems), and we do it best with others in community. Plus, our theologies change over time, so having a group to ponder with is a beautiful thing. We will have a “covenant” in place to create a safe space for conversation because it’s likely none of us will end up with exactly the same theology. If you are in the midst of a spiritual and theological shift, you may experience some heartache.  Kelly will offer spiritual support, and the group will hold you in love.

We will consider the following elements.
Elements of a Systematic Theology

• Sources of truth and authority: What is your guide? How do you obtain inspiration and wisdom? From a book(s), prophet(s), other?  
• Human Nature:  Is your view of human nature high (all people are good), low (all people are depraved), or somewhere in between? Are people born good with the potential to do bad things? What about sin? Is it a thing? Are people born sinful? 
• Divinity (Theology/ Cosmology): How do you make meaning of life? What is your theory of the natural order of the universe? What are your beliefs about the Ultimate Reality, God, the Divine?  
• Salvation (Soteriology):  What are your views on salvation. Do you need to be saved? From what? How are you saved? Can the world be saved? How?
• Why do bad things happen? (Theodicy):  What causes suffering? How are you comforted during suffering? How do you account for or define evil? 
• Afterlife (Eschatology): What are your thoughts about what happens during and after “endings” – the end of an individual life, the end of the age, the end of the world? 
• Spirit(s)  (Pneumatology): What are your views on the spirit world and spirits?  
• Community (Ecclesiology):  What is the role of the community in your life and the world?  What are your principles and values?  How do those influence how you behave (ethics)?  
• Living in the World (Missiology):  How you go into the world acting from your theology? What is the role of working for justice in your life? 
• What are your spiritual practices? How do you connect to something larger than your own ego? How do you stay centered and compassionate?
• For those living in Western culture, it’s recommended that you have a Christology:  What do you believe about Jesus of Nazareth and his nature? Was he divine? Mere human? Does his death and resurrection offer salvation or not? Was he the only son of God or a child of God like the rest of us? Was he a teacher, prophet, justice worker? Hindus view him as Avatar; Muslims see him as a prophet; Buddhists view him as a bodhisattva; most Christians view him as the Savior, the power of God in the world and the only Son of God.