Level:
MA
Credits: 30
Weekly: 3 hours of lectures and seminars
Taught in: Semester 1
To contact: Daniel.Langton@man.ac.uk
0161 275 8592 (internal ext. 58592)
Room WLG16
Office hours: Tues 3-4pm, Wed 1-2pm
Course Aims:
1. to explore the extent to which the Holocaust (Shoah) has impacted on Jewish and Christian religious thought
2. to consider the central themes and core issues that characterise post-Holocaust theology and the problem of evil
3. to recognise a variety of perspectives among Jews and Christians in their responses to the Holocaust and to post-Holocaust theology
Course Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this course unit, you will:
1. have acquired an understanding of the development and reception of post-Holocaust thought among the Jewish and Christian faith communities
2. be able to analyse critically various intellectual attempts to reinterpret the world, God, mankind, religious faith, and the nature of evil/suffering after Auschwitz; also to consider Christian responsibility, and the implications for Jewish-Christian relations
3. be able to relate the positions adopted by religious writers to their own socio-historical backgrounds, and to articulate the ways in which religious writers adopt, adapt or reject previous traditions
4. have acquired an understanding of traditional/past approaches to the problem of evil and suffering, and have explored the relationship between these approaches and those of post-Holocaust theologians
Final Assessment:
One essay 6000-8000 words. Students should refer to the departmental guidelines for essay presentation. Marks will be deducted for poor presentation and penalties will apply to essays handed in late without medical or other evidence. Dr Langton will provide feedback on a draft version of the essay if it is provided at least 3 weeks before the deadline date. Two copies of the essay should be handed into the office (WG14) by the deadline date, and a receipt obtained.
You should choose your essay title in consultation with Dr Langton. It is important that the topic should relate both to modern and to past/traditional writings. Two suggestions are:Essay Choice 1: Select one Jewish OR Christian thinker. Discuss the ways in which past explanations for the Problem of Evil from within her/his own religious tradition have been engaged with (or ignored) in her/his writings about the theological meaning and implications of the Holocaust. Make special reference to the question of the uniqueness of the Holocaust.
Essay Choice 2: From the perspective of EITHER the Jewish faith community OR the Christian faith community, criticise the view that an awareness of the Holocaust is necessary for all significant future theological statements. Make special reference to the use (or limitations of the use) of traditional resources for approaching the Problem of Evil.
Course Programme:
This course will survey a number of theological responses to the Holocaust, with Jewish and Christian writers including Richard Rubenstein, Emil Fackenheim, Irving Greenberg, Ignaz Maybaum, Eliezer Berkovits, Arthur Cohen, Rosemary Ruether, Paul van Buren. It will explore the differing ways that their religious concepts, beliefs, principles and practice have been effected by the theological challenge of the Holocaust, which has undoubtedly brought about a wide-spread crisis of identity and meaning for many religious thinkers. Among other areas of interest, it will consider the wider context of Jewish-Christian relations (in particular Christian anti-Judaism), the debate surrounding the phenomenon of Jewish self-definition in terms of the Holocaust, and the future of Holocaust theology itself.
Seminars: Readings for seminars are based on selected chapters of Dan Cohn-Sherbok's Holocaust Theology: A Reader (2002). You are expected to have read the appropriate chapters for each weekly seminar (indicated in the course outline) and to have thought about the questions raised by Cohn-Sherbok at the end of each reading. During the course you will also individually be expected to lead discussion on an assigned chapter (which will include a number of readings) and to prepare some 'conversation starters'. To do this you should be able to:
1. Introduce the subject area of the assigned chapter. Describe in your own words what you regard to be the central issues, core themes and challenges of the topic under consideration. Make a brief list of key terms or phrases found in the assigned chapter, and write a brief explanation of each; try to select terms or phrases that really seem most crucial to approaching the topic. These might include:
a. passages, quotations, turns of phrase that appeal to you;
b. difficult passages you have a problem understanding;
c. terms, phrases, themes that occur repeatedly.
When listing terms or phrases, cite page numbers.2. Outline your overall impressions of the various responses, having read through the readings. Indicate the range of identities and interests of the writers included in the assigned chapter. Pay special attention to groups which do not appear to be represented or which appear to have a particular interest in the subject area. Look for distinctions between writers from the Jewish and Christian communities and also for distinctions from within the two traditions.
3. Criticise a few of the readings that appear notably unconvincing; your responses to Cohn-Sherbok's questions can assist you in this. Write down two or three questions that you would have liked to ask the authors for clarification or explanation. Such 'grey areas' represent either (a) potential weaknesses in the particular piece, or (b) weaknesses in your own knowledge - either way you need to focus on them to better understand the subject.
4. Criticise a few of the readings that appear notably convincing; your responses to Cohn-Sherbok's questions can assist you in this. What strengths do these readings have - logic, rhetoric, information?
Course Outline:
Week 1 Lecture: Introduction: What is 'Holocaust Theology'?
Seminar: Selections of Claude Lanzmann's ShoahModern Jewish 'Holocaust Theologians'
Week 2 Lecture: Ignaz Maybaum and Eliezer Berkovitz
Seminar: Holocaust and Divine Providence (3), Human Free Will (7)
Week 3 Lecture: Richard Rubenstein and Arthur Cohen
Seminar: Holocaust and Mystery (4), Reconstructing Judaism (13)
Week 4 Lecture: Emil Fackenheim and Marc Ellis
Seminar: Holocaust and Jewish Survival (12)
Week 5 Lecture: Irving Greenberg and Elie Wiesel
Seminar: Religious Faith (2), Holocaust and the Kingdom (9)Modern Christian 'Holocaust Theologians'
Week 6 Lecture: Rosemary Radford-Ruether, Franklin Littell, Roy Eckhardt
Seminar: Re-Evaluating Christian Theology (15), Christian Responsibility (14)
Week 7 Lecture: Paul van Buren and Institutional Responses
Seminar: Jewish-Christian Dialogue (16), Holocaust and Christian Faith (8)Assessing 'Holocaust Theologies'
Week 8 Lecture: The Problem of Evil and Suffering in the Christian Tradition
Seminar: Holocaust and Human Evil (11), The Suffering of God (6)
Week 9 Lecture: The Problem of Evil and Suffering in the Jewish Tradition
Seminar: Faithfulness and Suffering (5), Covenant (10)
Week 10 Lecture: Ways of Talking about the Holocaust and Evil
Seminar: Religious Challenge of the Holocaust (1)
Week 11 Lecture: Conclusions and Revision
Seminar: Future of Holocaust Theology (Epilogue)
Additional MA Seminars:
There will be 4 hours of extra contact time towards the end of the course for MA students only. These sessions will be used to examine more closely the problem of evil and suffering in the Jewish and Christian traditions. As part of this, you will be expected to make a 15 minute presentation relating to the research for your essay; the precise topic should be agreed in consultation with Dr Langton.
For full reading list, click here.
MA in Jewish Studies | Centre for Jewish Studies | Religions and Theology Home Page | Postgraduate Study
e-mail: Bernard.Jackson@man.ac.uk