Jesus: Faith, Identity, and Power

Catalog description

Jesus as a historical person and an object of faith has been a major force in shaping world history. This course looks at ways that members of political, religious, ethnic, and racial communities encounter and engage one another in interpretations of Jesus - as a divine being, a symbol of goodness, or a moral and ethical example. We will examine early Christian sources about Jesus and look closely at other sources (historical, artistic, political, philosophical) that make arguments about who Jesus was and what the figure of Jesus means. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how interpretations of Jesus uphold or resist normative systems of power.