Inventing Religion: Prophets, Holy Men, and their Movements

Catalog description

Students in this course will learn about the origin and development of several different religious traditions, including some of the major religions of the world today, by studying their founding prophets and holy men in their historical contexts. We will read and interpret primary sources (in translation), evaluate secondary scholarship, and assess traditional narratives about prophets and the origins of religious movements in order to think critically about the history and definition of “religion” more broadly.