civilization
Paper details:
We’re now entering a new epoch, the Middle Ages, which arose on the ruins of Roman imperial power. These Middle Ages were a chaotic, uncertain time, yet they gave rise to new, dynamic civilizations, above all those associated with Christendom in the West and Islam in the East.
As we saw last week, the decline of Rome in the West was accompanied, over the fifth and sixth centuries, by the establishment of a series of Germanic kingdoms – those of the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals and others. While most of these kingdoms did not last long, one of them – the kingdom of the Franks – would play a key role in laying the foundations for the European civilization to come. (That story we will consider this coming Wednesday in our class on Charlemagne).
In the eastern parts of the Roman Empire, the sixth and seventh centuries gave rise to a distinctly new civilization – a synthesis of Roman traditions, Christianity and Greek culture – we refer to as Byzantine. Yet here too decline and fragmentation eventually set in. By the seventh century, Byzantium’s weaknesses helped open new spaces in which a vibrant new power and civilization, that associated with the Islamic faith, emerged. The remarkable expansion of Islam over the seventh and eighth centuries left the world, including the European West, forever transformed. (That story we will examine in our Monday class).
Our discussion sections this week will address these developments mainly by reference to the readings provided in your Documentary Readers: the Qur’an, “Islamic terms of peace” and Ibn Sina selections for Islam, and those from Cassiodorus, Einhard and Charlemagne for Christian Europe.
Paper option 1) Muhammad and the Quran (or Koran)
As you would expect, there is much in the Quran that harkens back to both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles; Muhammad saw his message as an extension of the prophetic tradition dating back to Abraham (or Ibrahim). Yet comparing Islam, Judaism and Christianity suggests differences as well as similarities. In your papers, I want you to consider both sides of this comparative coin. In doing so, you might consider the following:
How does Muhammad situate himself in relation to the prophetic tradition Islam shares with Judaism and Christianity?
What criticisms does he offer of Christian doctrine?
What view of paradise is offered here, and
what advice is given regarding the relations between men and women? Are these views of male-female relations different from, or essentially the same as, the Hebrew and Christian views set forth in the Tanakh and Christian New Testament?
As we saw last week, the decline of Rome in the West was accompanied, over the fifth and sixth centuries, by the establishment of a series of Germanic kingdoms – those of the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals and others. While most of these kingdoms did not last long, one of them – the kingdom of the Franks – would play a key role in laying the foundations for the European civilization to come. (That story we will consider this coming Wednesday in our class on Charlemagne).
In the eastern parts of the Roman Empire, the sixth and seventh centuries gave rise to a distinctly new civilization – a synthesis of Roman traditions, Christianity and Greek culture – we refer to as Byzantine. Yet here too decline and fragmentation eventually set in. By the seventh century, Byzantium’s weaknesses helped open new spaces in which a vibrant new power and civilization, that associated with the Islamic faith, emerged. The remarkable expansion of Islam over the seventh and eighth centuries left the world, including the European West, forever transformed. (That story we will examine in our Monday class).
Our discussion sections this week will address these developments mainly by reference to the readings provided in your Documentary Readers: the Qur’an, “Islamic terms of peace” and Ibn Sina selections for Islam, and those from Cassiodorus, Einhard and Charlemagne for Christian Europe.
Paper option 1) Muhammad and the Quran (or Koran)
As you would expect, there is much in the Quran that harkens back to both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles; Muhammad saw his message as an extension of the prophetic tradition dating back to Abraham (or Ibrahim). Yet comparing Islam, Judaism and Christianity suggests differences as well as similarities. In your papers, I want you to consider both sides of this comparative coin. In doing so, you might consider the following:
How does Muhammad situate himself in relation to the prophetic tradition Islam shares with Judaism and Christianity?
What criticisms does he offer of Christian doctrine?
What view of paradise is offered here, and
what advice is given regarding the relations between men and women? Are these views of male-female relations different from, or essentially the same as, the Hebrew and Christian views set forth in the Tanakh and Christian New Testament?
Paper option 2) Worlds of learning
The readings from Ibn Sina (known to the West as Avicenna), on the one hand, and Einhard, Cassiodorus and Charlemagne, on the other, give us a glimpse into the world of learning in both the Muslim and Christian worlds of the Middle Ages. As these readings demonstrate, education, literacy and knowledge were venerated in both Islamic and Christian traditions. Yet these texts also tell us something about the uphill battle, especially in the Christian West, to encourage literacy and learning during these times. What, from the perspective of these authors, is the point of education? Why should we make the effort, and what purposes does it serve?
