Religion

Please note: Wooster’s educational philosophy is centered on teaching children not course material. Thus, while the topics of instruction included in these documents represent the best estimate of the faculty about what subjects will be explored in each class, some additions, subtractions, and changes are likely to occur each year based on the interests and aptitudes of the unique group of children who are being taught.

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Religion

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General

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General

“Religion” is one of the celebrated “Four Cardinal Principles” of the Wooster experience as described in our school Mission Statement. However, religion “classes” are part of the Wooster curriculum only in the 11^th and 12^th grades. All other students experience the religious aspects of Wooster’s ethos in the day-to-day community living of the school and in the weekly chapel services attended by each division.

CHAPEL PROGRAM

At Wooster, we believe that helping children explore their spiritual selves is as important as helping them develop intellectually, ethically, aesthetically, and physically.

Toward that end, each division meets weekly in the James Marshall Chapel for reflection, readings, and discussion. Although Wooster's history is rooted in the Episcopal Church, and weekly chapel services focus on the Judeo-Christian tradition, we honor all faiths and welcome speakers from other backgrounds as well. Our mottos, "It is better to believe, " and "Believers, say a prayer. Unbelievers, be respectful," compel us to challenge the students to explore their faith but do not insist on any particular doctrine or creed. Our chapel program aims to help students understand that life is a mystery, that all people have value, and that seeking meaning is a lifelong journey of faith and discovery.

Weekly chapel services last about 30 minutes and can include prayers of thanksgiving and prayers for those in need, readings from various religious and cultural traditions, musical performances, story telling, skits, singing, and a brief homily about Wooster's shared values or a spiritual topic of the day. Special holidays in the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and other faiths are recognized, discussed, and celebrated. Students are invited to participate as readers, candle bearers, and performers as they desire. Above all, chapel is presented as a comfortable, non-threatening, and at times entertaining opportunity for children and adults to gather away from the pressures of the academic day to pause and reflect on their spiritual selves and upon the larger questions of life.

Our spiritual community is exemplified by the Wooster School Prayer which is recited at every service:

Oh God, You have given us every good gift.

We thank You for the bounty of your creation,

your teachings through the ages,

the love of family and friends,

and the goodly heritage of this school.

Bless us we pray, in our work and in our play.

Make us gentle, generous, truthful, kind, and brave.

Keep us in purity of heart,

and let the life of our school go on from strength to strength,

and have its place and meaning in your kingdom.

Amen.

11^th Grade

WORLD RELIGIONS ELECTIVE - ONE SEMESTER

TEXTS:

Religions of the World, Hopfe, Lewis M. and Mark R. Woodward,(ninth edition, Prentice Hall).

Various primary sources photocopied and distributed to the students.

GOALS:

To give students a basic knowledge of the tenets of the major religions of the world. To expose students to some of the methods and issues in the study of religion. To develop skills in reading religious texts.

TOPICS

Definitions of Religion and Basic Religions.

Religions originating in India: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism

Religions originating in China and Japan: Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto

Religions originating in the Middle East: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam

Each religion is not confined to its country of origin; thus, when discussing Buddhism for example, Chinese and Japanese Buddhism is considered, as well as Indian Buddhism.

For each religion, the following questions are posed:

What is the nature of the divine?

What is the nature of the self?

What is the nature of the world? Is it a prison or a paradise?

Should the world be lived in or transcended?

What is the meaning of salvation?

What is the means of salvation? Can the self save itself or is an outside agency necessary?

Does this religion have any monastic or ascetic elements?

Who are the important historical or legendary figures in this religion?

What is the foundational myth of this religion? What does it tell us?

What are the basic institutions of this religion?

What sectarian differences exist in this religion?

What are the important texts of this religion?

In addition and as time permits, some attention is given to modern theories of religions behavior. For example, the class has had fruitful discussions of Eliade's concept of "cryptoreligious" activity, that is, activity which the participants do not identify as religious, but which has many characteristics of religious behavior. We also might engage in a discussion of Tillich's concept of the "Dynamics of Faith."

ETHICS ELECTIVE - ONE SEMESTER

TEXT: A Short History of Ethics, by Alasdair MacIntyre.

TOPICS: The history of Western Philosophy is examined through the lens of ethics, although attention is also paid to metaphysics and epistemology. One day of each week is devoted to applied ethics, using situations suggested by various web sites.

12^th Grade

SENIOR SEMINAR

TEXTS:

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha New Revised Standard Version (3rd edition, published especially for use in colleges, Oxford University Press, 2001)

The Tao Te Ching, translated by Victor Mair from the Ma-Wang-Tui manuscripts (Bantam books, 1990)

Dynamics of Faith by Paul Tillich, a twentieth-century theologian.

Rashomon and Other Stories, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, translated by Takashi Kojima (Liveright Publishing, 1970).

Rashomon is a collection of short stories written Japan in the early twentieth century.

Lost in the Funhouse, by John Barth (Doubleday, 1968; Anchor Books edition, 1988).

Lost in the Funhouse is a collection of short stories written in the U.S. in the 1960's.

“Deathbird,” by Harlan Ellison (1972).

A short story by the American science fiction author.

Assorted poems, usually including "Dover Beach," by Matthew Arnold; "Fern Hill," by Dylan Thomas; and "The Windhover," by Gerard Manly Hopkins.

GOALS

To expose students to various parts of the Bible

To help students look at the Bible in an academic setting and manner.

To expose the students to literature not otherwise considered at Wooster.

To provoke students into thinking in ways they have not thought before.

QUESTIONS CONSIDERED:

What is the historical setting in which these texts were written? How may have that historical setting affected the content or the style?

What is each text saying about the nature of God?

What is each text saying about the nature of the individual? What are they saying about the nature of the individual's relationship with God?

What is each text saying about the individual's relationship with his social world? the natural world?

What is each text saying about the nature of truth?

What do you say about the nature of God, the nature of the self, the self's relationship with God, the self's relationship with the world, and the nature of truth?