Adult Education Class Sundays at 9:15 a.m. “The Masks of God:
How Four Great Religions
See the Divine”
On September 24, Mark Grimsley and Janet Lohr begin a five-week comparative exploration of four of the world’s great spiritual systems: Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. (The term “spiritual system” reflects a recognition that Buddhism fits neither the western concepts of “religion” nor “philosophy.”) The course assumes a basic familiarity with Judeo-Christianity and therefore spends most of its time exploring Buddhism and Islam, but always with a comparative glance at Judeo-Christianity. It examines these faiths thematically: first, an overview of humanity’s universal recognition of the divine; second, an examination of the founders of the four spiritual systems; third, an introduction to the sacred writings of these systems; fourth, their major practices; and finally, the ways in which these spiritual systems call upon their adherents to live mindfully, both in their individual lives and in their engagement with the world.
