Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
This lecture explores what Jesus said about himself, as well as what he specifically preached. Grasp the nature and purpose of Jesus's ethical teachings, and his view of himself as a prophet of the coming kingdom. Study the Jewish conception of the Messiah as a warrior-king who would overthrow the enemies of Israel.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
[Acts 17–28, 1 Thessalonians] Paul’s travels to cities like Corinth and Philippi, and his letters to the Christian communities there, offer a lens into the relationship between early Christianity and the Roman Empire. From conflicts between Jesus’s kingship and Roman imperial rule to the events of Paul’s imprisonment, consider some narrative and spiritual challenges faced by the writer of Acts.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Explore three theories on the proper size of government, focusing on economic regulation and delivery of services. Adam Smith saw a minimal role, Karl Marx envisioned total control, and John Maynard Keynes believed that major government intervention was necessary under certain conditions.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
None of us can avoid dying. But some believe we can learn how to die well. Professor Berkson introduces you to ways that others have faced death (with regret, dignity, even rage) and also considers some of the practical ways we can make the best of our deaths when our time comes.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
[Acts 1–10] Turn to subsequent texts of the New Testament, which take up the struggle to understand Jesus and what it means to live by his message. The Acts of the Apostles, you’ll find, is a fascinating narrative that shows the Christian community being transformed as it welcomed Jews, Greeks, and Romans.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
In this section, put what you’ve learned to work by asking the big question: Can religious belief be justified? Start with Hume’s argument that testimony can never justify a belief that a miracle has occurred. Analyze the flaws in Hume’s reasoning, and think about whether his conclusion still holds.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
The next three lectures address the big question: What is the nature of the mind? Start with the celebrated "hard problem"of consciousness: How does the brain produce the mind? Investigate two possible answers and explore why many philosophers consider both to be problematic.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Is deliberate killing justified when it happens during wartime? Consider this powerful question by looking at how depersonalization helps soldiers become more comfortable with killing; how civilizations and religious traditions have morally justified war; and arguments for (and criticism of) a pacifist approach to life.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
[Exodus 1–15] Both encouraging and threatening, Exodus 1 15 is one of the Bible’s most thrilling stories. First, consider the story’s literary setting (and its surprising humor). Then, discover its focus on two different forms of power: God’s and pharaoh’s. Finally, see how the events in Exodus have resonated throughout subsequent history.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
In ancient Judaism, beings other than the one true God could be considered to be or even called God. Learn about the divine figure of the Son of Man, and the Jewish conception of a "second God". Observe how divine attributes of God were personified, and how humans such as the kings of Israel were deified.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Since the dawn of humanity, corpses have held lasting significance for us. In this lecture, probe the various ways human civilizations have "disposed"of corpses—from burial (the oldest method for which evidence still exists) and mummification to cremation and natural exposure (known as "excarnation”).
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
[Hebrews, James, 1 Peter] Paul wasn’t the only letter writer in the New Testament. Join Professor Koester for a discussion of the books of Hebrews, James, and 1 Peter, which sought to comfort and inspire early Christian outsiders through keeping the faith, focusing on integrity, and questioning what it means to "belong.”
93) What is Wicca?
Publisher
TMW Media
Pub. Date
2013.
Language
English
Description
Do real life witches ride broomsticks and cast magic spells? Host Tevya talks to plants, tries a love potion and befriends some teenage witches in the magical world of Wicca. But, when the high priestess, Greymoon, directs Tevya to take a ritualistic bath as part of a welcoming rite, our spiritual explorer finds himself a little outside his comfort zone..
Publisher
TMW Media
Pub. Date
2013.
Language
English
Description
Host Tevya begins his spiritual quest by investigating Hinduism, a faith with some 900 million followers worldwide. He attends the Durga Puja festival, an annual celebration for the Hindu goddess Durga with his teen guide Kritika. Tevya explores Little India searching for a present for the goddess and learns a little Kathak dancing with Kritika along the way!.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
[2 Kings, Lamentations, Habakkuk] In 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. Explore the trauma of this cataclysmic moment through three biblical books: 2 Kings, which tries to explain the events of the loss of Jerusalem; Lamentations, which gives voice to the anger and grief of exile; and Habakkuk, which helps us come to terms with life’s unanswered questions.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Close your inquiry into the afterlife by looking at new ways of defining personhood. According to perdurantism, a person is the sum total of an individual’s life experiences and cannot be isolated to a particular time and place. Then question the very concept of a person—a move that may rule out the possibility of an afterlife.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
In this lecture on what Professor Berkson calls "an inescapable part of the human condition,"unpack the feelings and behaviors of the grieving process. Topics include the evolutionary benefits of grief, the five stages of grief laid out by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, and the three categories of grieving identified by psychologist George Bonanno.
Publisher
TMW Media
Pub. Date
2013.
Language
English
Description
While many mainline Christian churches are in decline, Evangelical Christianity remains a powerful force in the 21st century. With 2.1 billion followers worldwide, this particular branch of faith must be doing something right. In this program, host Tevya enters the world of Evangelicals, meeting a local pastor whose weekly service is broadcast to five different locations and features a full rockband. He learns that it is all about giving back..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
Some philosophers, called compatibilists, argue that if we understand free will correctly, the idea that humans are free becomes defensible, leaving room for moral responsibility. Evaluate this stance, and close by considering the consequences of conceding that we don’t have free will in the traditional sense.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2016.
Language
English
Description
For as long as we’ve been aware of death, we’ve searched for ways to avoid it. Examine a few of the many methods people have used to attempt immortality, including Daoist alchemical methods, empirical approaches by early Muslim scientists, and cutting-edge concepts such as gene manipulation and downloading one’s consciousness into a computer.
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