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Week One: Abraham
in the Middle East
The
essence of the spirituality of the desert
was not taught but caught; it was a whole
way of life.
Benedicta Ward, Wisdom of the Desert
Fathers
1. Monday: Introductions,
Our Father Abraham
- A brand new course
- Schedule-syllabus, assignments
- Belden Lane: critical scholarship
and lived experience
- Student-Teacher responsibilities
- Three weekend essays, final paper
and grading
- Class demographics
- Class discussion: Why did you take
this course?
- Divide into eight Chavez reading groups
1:30-5:00 pm: DVD in classroom--“Abraham”
(3 hours, with half-hour snack break)
- Reading for tomorrow:
- Peters, pp. xv-23
- Lane, “Connecting Spirituality
and the Environment,” pp. 3-27
- Calvin, Sky Determines:
Foreword, Contents, Chapter 1: “Theme
Stated”
- Jewish Testament: Genesis 11:27-32
(Terah), 12:1-13:18, 14:17-24 (Melchizedek)
- Christian Testament: Hebrews 11:8-19
(Abraham and Sarah’s Faith)
- Qur’an: 2:124-135 (Abraham,
Ishmael, Building the Kaaba, and
Pristine Religion)
- The Abrahamic Path (web site)
2. Tuesday: Landscape
and Soulscape
- Lecture and Discussion:
- Reading Landscape, Interpreting
Soulscape
- Text analysis, text appropriation
- Purgation, illumination and union
- Discussion:
- Abraham DVD, Sacred Scriptures;
begin Judaism
- The Abrahamic Path, first weekend
paper
- Reading for tomorrow:
- Peters, pp. 23-46; Lane, pp. 149-150
- Calvin, Sky Determines:
“Sky,” pp. 9-32
- William McNamara, “The
Desert Experience,” and
following pages
- Jewish Testament: Genesis 15 (Covenant),
16 (Hagar and Ishmael), 17 (Circumcision),
18 (Appearance at Mamre, Abraham’s
Pleas), 22:1-19 (Sacrifice of Isaac),
25:7-11 (Abraham’s Death)
- Qur’an: 2: 30-62 (Adam, Angels
and Moses); 37:101-107 (Sacrifice
of Isaac)
- Jewish Poem: Levi Yitzchak of
Berditchev
3. Wednesday: Judaism in
the Middle East
- Discuss:
- Sky Determines, Foreword,
themes, sky
- McNamara on the desert experience
- Peters on Judaism, Jewish poem
- Read for tomorrow:
- Peters, pp. 47-82
- Calvin, Sky Determines:
“Desert,” pp. 33-62
- Lane, “Desert Catechesis:
The Landscape and Theology of Early
Christian Monasticism,”pp.
160-185
- Christian Testament: John 8:31-42,
51-59 (Jesus on Abraham); Matthew
4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13 (Christ in the
Desert)
- Qur’an: 3:33-55; 19:16-35
(Mary; Jesus Uncrucified; Birth of
Jesus)
- Christian Poem: “Christianity
Was Once an Eagle Message”
4. Thursday: Christianity
and the Desert Tradition
- Discuss:
- Sky Determines, Desert;
“Christianity Was Once an Eagle
Message”
- Lane on “Desert Catechesis,”
Peters on Christianity
- Read for tomorrow:
- Peters, pp.83-119
- Calvin, Sky Determines:
“Mountains,” pp. 63-84
- Lane, “The Sinai Image in
the History of Western Monotheism,”
pp. 100-114;“Encounter at Ghost
Ranch,” pp. 115-123; pp. 87-88
- Lings, “The Desert,”
pp. 23-26
- Murata and Chittick, “The
Hadith of Gabriel,” pp. xxv-xxvii
- Ibn Khaldun, “Bedouin Civilization
and their Conditions of Life,”
from The Muqaddimah,pp. 91-122
- Jewish Testament: Genesis 5:32,
7:13, 9:18-29 (Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth)
Genesis 21 (Isaac Born, Hagar and
Ishmael Dismissed)
- Christian Testament: Galatians
3:6-14, 4:21-31 (Paul on Hagar and
Sarah)
- Qur’an: 17:1 (Night Journey
to the Furthest Mosque); 53:1-18
(The Star, possibly the first revelation);
96:1-6 (Read! or The Embryo, also
possibly the first revelation); 97:1-5
(Night of Destiny)
- Muslim Poem: ‘Abd al-Qadir
5. Friday: Islam,
Muhammad and the Five Pillars
- Discuss:
- Sky Determines, Mountains
- Peters on Islam; various Muslim
selections, ‘Abd al-Qadir
- Lane on the Sinai image
- Over the weekend:
- Menocal, pp. 17-49
- Fray Angelico Chavez: Prologue,
pp. ix-xiv; pp. 1-59 (The Holy Land,
Castile and New Mexico); pp. 119-147
(Anima Hispanica and Semitic
Spain); Foreword by Thomas Steele,
S.J. (handout)
- Write first five-page paper (see
separate sheet)
Syllabus
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