REL 3370 - Prophets and Mystics

Goals: If we are to be equal to our times, we need both the disquieting wisdom of prophets, those truth tellers who rage against unspeakable inequities, and the hopeful reminder of the mystics, that underneath the broken surface of life there is a unity, and a hidden wholeness. Some mystics are also prophets, and some prophets mystics.

Content: In this course we will draw from a wide range of contemporary prophets, including: poets, writers, film makers, photographers, musicians as well as the ancient biblical prophets, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Jonah. Readings will include: The Open Spaces of Democracy, (Terry Tempest Williams) a biography of St. Francis of Assisi and Hildegard of Bingen; selections from Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Prophets, Wendell Berry, Arundhati Roy and selected poems.

Credits: 4