Uganda Christian University. Department of Foundation Studies

Transcription

1 Uganda Christian University Department of Foundation Studies Course Title Understanding Worldviews Course Code FS 2101 Credit Hours 3 Contact Hours 4 Core / Elective Core Lecturer Daniel Button Tutorial Asst. various Phone Phone Ext 415 drbutton@ucu.ac.ug foundations@ucu.ac.ug 1. Course Description This course will introduce to students the concept of a worldview, and provide a basic understanding of most of the major worldviews in evidence today. It will also assist students in analyzing the claims of different worldviews, including Christianity, and will emphasize the importance and means of forming a Christian worldview which integrates faith and life. Students will consider the meaning, truth claims, and relevance of creation and evolution, the origin of life, sin and evil, different offers of salvation, and various beliefs about how to live one s life in the contemporary world. As they read, students will relate the topics of the course to their particular setting in Africa as well as to the larger global context of today s world. 2. Course Objectives To gain a basic understanding of the concepts of worldview and competing worldviews. To gain an overview and basic insights into most of the major worldviews adhered to in the world today. To gain a thorough working knowledge of the Christian worldview and its relevance to all aspects of faith and life. To apply this knowledge to contemporary issues and events, and to discover its relevance to the student s chosen profession or academic discipline. To apply an understanding of the Christian worldview to the contemporary African context. To formulate and articulate one s own understanding of the integrated relationship between God, oneself, and the world. 3. Required Readings How Now Shall We Live? C. Colson & N. Pearcey, Wheaton: Tyndale, Clash of Worlds David Burnett, Crowborough: MARC, Understanding Worldviews a UCU Foundation Course Study Guide: Jan 2010 version FS 2102: Understanding Worldviews 1

2 4. Course Content 4.1 Course Outline and Content Description 1 What is a Worldview? Learning to appreciate the meaning, importance and nature of worldviews in general 2 Competing Worldviews Assessing WV & Culture, comparing the Western and African Traditional Worldviews 3 Creation and Cosmos: Naturalism and the Christian Worldview Looking at the first key question of Origins : Comparing Naturalism and the CWV in terms of the origin of everything (the Universe, Creation, Earth, life) 4 The Value of Human Life Continuing the key question of Origins specifically in terms of human origins, human life, and the value of life 5 The Problem of Sin and Evil: The Christian Worldview Perspective Assessing the second key question of present malady what is wrong with the world? 6 The Problem with the World: Other Worldview Perspectives Assessing the same question in terms of other (non-christian) worldviews 7 A Multitude of Solutions: Other Worldview Perspectives Looking at the various solutions offered by other (non-christian) worldviews 8 The Solution: Salvation In Jesus Christ The Christian Worldview Solution to the problem of Sin. Understanding salvation in all of its dimensions: past redemption, present sanctification, future glorification 9 The Christian Worldview and the Family Applying the Christian Worldview to universal human aspects of life first, the family 10 The Christian Worldview and Work Applying the CWV to the second universal - work in relation to God s original plan 11 The Christian Worldview and Civil Society Applying the CWV to social and political life in its larger setting; embedding Christian truths into a universal social and cultural context, and transforming our societies and nations through the inner values of the Christian message. 12 Revision of Readings and Lecture Notes FS 2102: Understanding Worldviews 2

3 4.2 Weekly Schedule WEEK TOPIC READING ASSIGNMENT Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Distribution of materials Assignment of tutorial groups (How do we understand the world?) What is a Worldview? (How do others understand the world?) Competing Worldviews (Who are we and where do we come from?) Creation and Cosmos (Who are we and where do we come from?) The Value of Human Life (What is wrong with the world?) The Problem of Sin & Evil: CWV Perspective (What is wrong with the world?) The Problem with the World: Other WVs (What can we do to correct it?) A Multitude of Solutions: Other WVs (What can we do to correct it?) The Solution: Salvation in Jesus; CWV (Reading should be done before lecture) Burnett, ch. 1-2 Colson, Intro, ch.1-2 WV Study Guide ch. 1 Burnett, ch. 4,9,14 Colson, ch. 3-4 WV Study Guide ch. 2 Burnett, ch. 3,12,13 Colson, ch. 6-7 WV Study Guide ch. 3 Colson, 9,10,13,14 Burnett, ch. 10,11 WV Study Guide ch. 4 Colson, ch.15,18-21 Burnett, ch. 14 WV Study Guide ch. 5 Burnett, ch. 5,6,7,8 WV Study Guide ch. 6 Colson, ch. 23,24,26 WV Study Guide ch. 7 Burnett, ch. 15,16 Colson, ch WV Study Guide ch. 8 Colson, ch. 33 WV Study Guide ch. 9 Week 9 (What is the relevance of the Christian WV?) The CWV and the Family Week 10 The CWV and Work Colson, ch. 35,38 WV Study Guide ch. 10 Week 11 The CWV and a Civil Society Colson, ch. 39,44 WV Study Guide ch. 11 Week 12 Revision of Readings and Lecture Notes Revise for exam choose any 5 assignments assignment 1 assignment 2 assignment 3 assignment 4 assignment 5 assignment 6 assignment 7 test assignment 8 assignment 9 essay due assignment Assignment Explanations Attendance Requirement: UCU academic policy requires a minimum attendance of 75%, or 9 weeks of the 12 teaching weeks of the semester. Students dropping below the minimum will not be allowed to sit the exam without special permission from their head of department, regardless of whether the coursework requirement has been met. Coursework Requirement: UCU adheres to a continuous assessment policy, which emphasizes an equivalent value of coursework and exams. Students failing to submit their coursework, or to achieve a minimum of 17.5 points out of 50 (=35%), will not be allowed to sit the exam, regardless of whether the attendance requirement has been met. Weekly Assignments & Test The course will include a 2 hour lecture each week, followed by a 2 hour small group tutorial / discussion on the topic. Students are expected to attend both, and should be prepared to discuss the assigned work for the day, having completed readings and FS 2102: Understanding Worldviews 3

4 assignments before the tutorial session so that everyone is prepared to raise questions and discuss the topic of the week. A total of 5 assignments is required, each valued at 5 points, plus one test also worth 5 points. If you choose to turn in more than 5, your lowest marks will be dropped and the best 5 retained. Short Essay on the Relevance of the Christian World View Students will write a 3-page (~750 word) paper examining the relevance of the Christian worldview to their chosen profession or academic discipline. (ie. to business, mass communication, law, social work, education, etc.) Tutors are free to change the emphasis of this essay in a given semester. (The book by Dockery & Thornbury will be especially helpful. See attached bibliography.) Avoid plagiarism! A Christian worldview requires honesty and integrity in all your work. Do your own work, and don t copy from others. This shows self-respect and honours God, who gave you the gifts of intelligence and the ability to reason. Plagiarism will receive a zero mark and will be referred to the appropriate departmental authority. 5. Assessment Criteria 30% Weekly Assignments & Test 10% Short Essay on the Relevance of the Christian World View 5% Tutorial Group Attendance 5% Tutorial Group Participation 50% Exam 6. Faith in Teaching Faith is integrated into the Worldviews course throughout, in both content and application. The course does not presume a Christian faith, but begins from the philosophical standpoint that each person is a seeker of Truth. Other worldviews are presented as fairly and accurately as possible, and together with the Christian worldview, are assessed for their ability to explain who we are, what is wrong with the world, provide a solution, and give sufficient answers to the deepest philosophical questions of life and purpose. The hope is that students will either strengthen their faith with deeper knowledge of the implications of a broader Christian worldview, or discover for the first time that the CWV offers the answers they are seeking in life. In this sense the course intends to be transformational, not merely content based. Emphasis shifts in the latter third of the course to helping students apply the Christian worldview to universal aspects of life rather than mere religious practice. 7. Bibliography ** Multiple copies are available in the UCU library Adeyemo, Tokunbeh Salvation in African Tradition (Nairobi: Evangel, 1979). Burnett, David** Clash of Worlds (Crowborough: MARC, 1990). Unearthly Powers (London: MARC, 1988). Colson, Charles, & N. Pearcey** How Now Shall We Live? (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1999). FS 2102: Understanding Worldviews 4

5 Cook, David Blind Alley Beliefs (Leicester: IVP, 1979). Dockery & Thornbury (eds.)** Shaping a Christian World View (Nashville: BroadmanHolman, 2002). Guiness, Os The Dust of Death (Downers Grove: IVP, 1973). Huntington, Samuel The Clash of Civilizations Journal of Foreign Affairs (Summer 1993). Kapolyo, Joe The Human Condition (Leicester: IVP / Langham, 2005). Kapuscinski, Ryszard The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life (London: Penguin, 2001). Mathew, C.V. Integral Mission: The Way Forward (Thiruvalla: CSS, 2006). Moreland, JP & WL Craig Philosophical Foundations for a CWV (Downers Grove: IVP, 2003). Naugle, David K Worldview: History of a Concept (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002). Neill, Stephen Christian Faith and Other Faiths (Oxford, 1970). Netland, Harold Dissonant Voices (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans / Apollos, 1991). Noebel, David Battle for Truth: Defending the CWV (Eugene: Harvest Hs, 2001). Understanding the Times (Manitou Springs: Summit Press, 1991). O Donovan, Wilbur** Biblical Christianity from an African Perspective (Paternoster, 1996). Olasky, M. & Joel Belz Whirled Views (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1997). Sanneh, Lamin Whose Religion is Christianity? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003). Schaeffer, Francis How Then Should We Live? (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1983). Sire, James The Universe Next Door (Downers Grove: IVP, 1989). FS 2102: Understanding Worldviews 5