Religious experiences that reflect religious belief proliferate into a wide range of manifestations that provide great interest to anthropologist, theologian, and missionary alike. This course seeks to enable students to appreciate these phenomena as manifestations of deeper pan-human issues that God has implanted in human beings created in God’s image. How each religion works out these human concerns and manifests them is a product of beliefs and values relating to human interaction with transempirical power, both personal and impersonal. Particular attention is given to the structures of beliefs and symbols, the nature of ritual and ceremony, types of religious practitioners, and the dynamics of religious movements. Students will come to appreciate religion as a system of meaning as well as a system of expression. The missiological questions arising from this appreciation for concerns about God in the human context punctuate the entire course, which concludes by presenting a means to biblically critique religious systems while ministering to them in a culturally sensitive manner. Such an approach allows the love of Christ to shine into a religious context and break the power of sin and death that holds people captive.

• Ability to appropriate an analytical model for religious understanding.
• Recognize and understand beliefs and practices in any religious context.
• Ability to appreciate and exegete ritual and ceremony in any religious context.
• Ability to make appropriate Christian responses and apply missiological understanding.

Lectures, films, and classroom discussion along with practical involvement in a religious context unfamiliar to the student will provide opportunity for learning.

Hiebert, P. G. , D. Shaw & T. Tienou. Understanding Folk Religion: A Christian Response to Popular Beliefs and Practices. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1999.
Lehmann, A. C., and J. E. Myers (eds). Magic, Witchcraft and Religion. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., Second Edition, 1989.
Richie, M. Spirit of the Rain Forest. Chicago: Island Lake Press, 1997.
Shaw, R.D. Course Syllabus. FTS, 2003.
Reading related to student interests as follow-up to a religious experience of the student's choice.

Reading and an annotated bibliography. One short paper based on observations of a religious context unfamiliar to the student. Choice of writing a 20 +/- page paper on subject of choice, or take a final exam.
Th.M students add: A two-page paper indicating how this course content fits into the conceptualization, research and writing for the thesis. Either apply the field experience to the thesis or read one extra book that applies insight from folk religion theory to the topic or region of the world in focus in the thesis.