Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know

By: Mark Berkson, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Mark Berkson

Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

According to polls conducted by Gallup and the Pew Research Forum on Religion & Public Life, the majority of Americans fail basic tests about religion, including tests on their own faith. This is troublesome because religious literacy is about so much more than naming deities or knowing the stories of ancient history. For many of us, religion is a way to examine and understand ourselves.

Moreover, religious literacy – the knowledge of basic teachings, symbols, practices, founders, institutions, and values of the world's religious traditions - can shed new light on the world around us and knock down the boundaries between us, making us better neighbors and better citizens. These 24 enlightening lectures offer you the chance to experience the breadth and depth of the world's religions from all angles – historical, theological, and cultural. They take you on a tour of the world and its religious cultures. From India to East Asia to the Middle East to the United States, your journey with Professor Berkson introduces you to the beliefs and practices of other traditions and provides you with new insights into your own.

The course approaches each religion from an "imaginative insider's perspective." What does the world look like from the perspective of someone within each tradition? What does this person value and care about? What are the everyday scriptures, rituals, traditions, and holidays like?

Along the way, you'll discover certain features that are common to many religions – concepts of divinity, scripture, rituals, and explanations of good and evil - and you'll find new ways to attain greater self-understanding.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great Courses

This Course Should Be Mandatory for all Humanity

What made the experience of listening to Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know the most enjoyable?

This was the most insightful and objective look at religions I have ever encountered.
Amazing.

Any additional comments?

If this was a required course for all American high school students, our country would change in a generation. Yes, it's that powerful.

Well narrated, Well organized, and insightful

Loved it! Good voice, well structured in the delivery of material, and great topics were covered.

Awareness of world religions valuable to me

In pursuit of Cultural literacy, I invested my time (wisely) in Professor Berkson's insightfully presented course. Well delivered, each chapter brought profound understanding of the topics and keen awareness. Gentle and reverential, but engaging and energetic, the narration held my interest throughout. The final chapters were especially moving and underscore why indeed one can consider Religious Awareness an important part of balanced cultural literacy .

Enlightening anout Enlightenment

Really felt as though I was learning something important that I would be working with everyday. lack of knowledge or ignorance often leads to fear, exclusion ism and segregation. this course would be helpful for everyone as it does not promote but more informs

Now we can talk about religion...

Any additional comments?

I have personally enjoyed this course and feel that I have learned a lot of things that I should of learned in school. Unfortunately in America, everyone is afraid of talking about religion unless it is their own religion. When it is YOUR own religion, you only get YOUR point of view. You know what I am talking about. Thank you for a great course! Now we can talk about religion like a well educated person.

Perspectives in this book are life-changing

A must listen for anyone trying to expand their mind and rethink their life. A lot of valuable information given in clear and concise ways that will spark your interest in many, many things.

Americans need to read this book

It is a must read book so that we can better understand the world in which we live. Better to have a working knowledge of the world religions than to defer to so called experts on TV. We live in one world on one earth TOGETHER. We should not be killing one another over imaginary lines drawn at random dividing US from THEM. ONE LOVE PEACE

Amazing

Hard to stop listening. I found myself looking for things to clean so that I could continue listening. (I listen best while occupied in menial tasks.)

Well worth a listen.

This is the first 'Great Course' audiobook that I have listened to and it won't be my last. The narration was enthusiastic and energetic.

Insightful and Balanced. Well paced and thorough

Prudent. and thought provoking. Timely and historically grounded to the conditions and circumstances of today. The theme of discussion effectively addressed related disciplines like politics,, sociology and social psychology.