101. First Year Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies. (3).
(HU).
Section 001 – Magic, Religion, and the Bible. What role does
magic play in modern religious life? How has the Bible impacted
modern views of magic and magic's relation to religion? As a means
for exploring these and related questions, this seminar will offer the student the opportunity to engage in a series of studies on
magic in ancient Israelite society. Seminar participants will
read relevant passages from the English Bible, examine texts (in
translation) and artifacts reflective of the broader ancient Near
Eastern and ancient Mediterranean magical traditions (Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Anatolian, Syro-Palestinian, Jewish, Christian, and Greek), and survey various modern social scientific approaches
to the study of magic. Students will investigate such issues and topics as the definition of magic, the vocabulary of magic, magic
as a ritual complex, magic's relation to science and religion, the anthropology of magic, and the impact of ideology and cultural
bias, or the insider-outsider perspective, on the images of magic
rendered by both ancient author and modern interpreter alike.
The rationale for offering a course on magic and the Bible abides
in the veracity of two propositions: (1) magic embodies a society's
expression of its self-identity, and (2), like science and religion, magic provides a general analytical category for the comparative
study of cultures. (Schmidt)
University of Michigan | College of LS&A | Student Academic Affairs | LS&A Bulletin Index
This page maintained by LS&A Academic Information and Publications, 1228 Angell Hall
The Regents
of the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA +1 734 764-1817
Trademarks of the University of Michigan may not be electronically or otherwise altered or separated from this document or used for any non-University purpose.