tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post8887802046613857310..comments2024-03-26T11:33:59.219-06:00Comments on Religion in American History: Teaching American Jesus in 2015Paul Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-30908976528396486002015-03-21T00:11:56.188-06:002015-03-21T00:11:56.188-06:00This essay continues to trouble me, that an educat...This essay continues to trouble me, that an education in America could concern itself in the least with the Islamic conception of Jesus while the learner might continue to lack a reasonable understanding of Calvinism. The former is a footnote to the American experience—a footnote to the Muslim experience!—while Calvinism for good or ill was a vital part of what got us here today.<br /><br />Perhaps it was reading Roger Scruton's latest in <i>First Things</i> today, that in its ideology of "equality," the university has replaced what one might consider the [civic?] necessity of understanding of our own culture with a "multicultural" approach that in valuing all knowledge equally, perhaps leaves us with knowledge but not understanding, which surely is the purpose of education.<br /><br />Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-27979444968098523332015-03-19T14:52:01.624-06:002015-03-19T14:52:01.624-06:00Thanks, guys. Anthony, I'm not sure which chap...Thanks, guys. Anthony, I'm not sure which chapters my students preferred. I asked them to write about gender, so they got very familiar with chapters 2 and 3. They were also supposed to write about the role of non-Christians in making Jesus an icon, a question that mainly elicited essays on the Rabbi and Oriental Christ chapters but also turned up some rather confused thoughts on other chapters. Prothero's placement of African Americans in the second half of the book threw a few students. Prothero explained the book's "resurrections/reincarnations" division as insider/outsider, but some students perceived it as Christian/non-Christian. Then again, some students also wrote about the feminization of Jesus as a non-Christian development, when Prothero clearly attributed that shift to white American Protestants in the 19th century.<br /><br />Eric, I haven't seen the CNN doc, either, and I'm sure I won't, what with basketball on. I'd guess viewership is down because it's down on practically all TV programs these days. From the promos, though, it looks like more "Quest for the Historical Jesus" stuff (not even Quest Of, which was what that scholarly trajectory ostensibly set out to explore). So, as far as CNN is concerned, the discussion about Jesus isn't changing, at least not in the ways it's changing in my classroom. Archaeology yields better visuals than does analysis of discourse, I suppose.Eleshahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03764991021577652939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-25701916627766479032015-03-19T10:43:46.301-06:002015-03-19T10:43:46.301-06:00"At the very least, the discussion is changin..."At the very least, the discussion is changing."<br /><br />Interesting thesis. I wonder if there is any evidence of this in the recent CNNs doc, "Finding Jesus," which I haven't yet seen. I'm also curious about its viewership: are the numbers higher or lower compared to similar docs in the past?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08924959603679923128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-49144886293522429942015-03-19T07:26:18.860-06:002015-03-19T07:26:18.860-06:00This was a great read, Elesha: thanks! I teach Pro...This was a great read, Elesha: thanks! I teach Prothero's chapter on "Oriental Christ" in my Christianity survey course, when we read the gospels and try to think about the various manifestations of Jesus/Christ. (We also look at a lot of the common Western depictions -- Sallman's, Hook's, plus Janet McKenzie's, etc). It really gets students thinking, particularly about representation and race. <br /><br />I guess the silver lining in students not knowing much about Calvinism is that you get to teach them TULIP!<br /><br />Just wondering -- were there any chapters in particular your students gravitated toward? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01057837383151039398noreply@blogger.com