Religious Studies

Choose ONE option. Between 450-600 words.

Daniel L. Pals: Eight Theories of Religion

Chapter One: Animism and Magic — E. B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer

Option #1

HARRIS/FREUD

How close to Freud’s answer to the question of the peculiar power of religious faith, is Harris’ answer to that question

Option #2

EAST/WEST

Lao Tzu’s biography is encased in legend – much like the life of Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha. Why is it that the details of the lives of the great founders of Taoism and Buddhism are not the stuff of historical interest in anything like the way the details of the lives of Moses, of Jesus, and of Mohammed are?

Option #3

GODS AND GODDESSES

How do you account for the fact that the myths of both the Paleolithic and the Neolithic all come ‘gendered’ i.e. that there is nothing like ‘the Force’ of Star Wars but only gods and goddesses?