HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY RELIGIONS

In addition to the frontal lessons, the course includes three seminars on case studies held by scholars and specialists and two practical exercises on written and visual sources at the Diocesan Archive and the Church of St. Benedict in Catania.

The course proposes a path of study on reconstruction the historical-cultural dimension of religious facts as a criterion for the understanding of the contemporary world. The first module (A) will cover typological classifications and a brief history of studies on religious phenomena. A deepening will be dedicated to the topic: «religion as truth and lie», with particular reference to Christianity, starting from cases of falsification of literary sources (canonic and not) and material (the Turin Shroud) (module B). Some “readings” (to choose) will provide other disciplinary perspectives of deepening of proposed themes (module C).

Module A (2 cfu): Religions and History

Books:

• G. Filoramo, Che cos'è la religione. Temi metodi problemi, Einaudi 2004, cap. V (pp. 173-214).
• G. Filoramo, M. Massenzio, M. Raveri, P. Scarpi, Manuale di Storia delle religioni. Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1998 (2015¹⁹), parte seconda (capp. XI-XII-XIII, pp.173-269) e parte quarta (capp. II-III-IV-V, pp.447-549).

Module B (2 cfu): Religion as truth and lie: about some writings of early Christianity and the case of the Turin Shroud

Books:

• B. D. Ehrman, Sotto falso nome. Verità e menzogna nella letteratura cristiana antica, Roma, Carocci 2018, pp. 21-136 (capp. 1-4), pp. 205-232 (cap. 7).
• A. Nicolotti, Sindone. Storia e leggende di una reliquia controversa, Torino, Einaudi 2015, pp. 3-196 (capp. 1-2).

Module C (2 cfu): Further Studies

Books (one choice):

• M. Vannini, Prego che Dio mi liberi da Dio. La religione come verità e come menzogna, Bompiani 2013, pp. 314.
• A. Schiavone, Ponzio Pilato. Un enigma tra storia e memoria, Torino, Einaudi 2017, pp. 215.
• C. Ginzburg, Il filo e le tracce: vero, falso, finto, Milano, Feltrinelli 2006, pp. 340.
• F. Cardini, Europa e islam: storia di un malinteso, Roma-Bari, Laterza 2018⁶, pp. 374.