RLB52 Religion and Evolution

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2014
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Luboš Bělka, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. David Václavík, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Šárka Londa Vondráčková
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable of Seminar Groups
RLB52/P: each even Monday 15:50–17:25 zruseno D21, L. Bělka
RLB52/K: Fri 28. 2. 15:50–17:25 J22, Fri 28. 3. 15:50–17:25 J22, Fri 25. 4. 15:50–17:25 J22, L. Bělka
Prerequisites (in Czech)
RLA01 Introduction to Religion || RLKA01 Introduction to Religion
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Course description: Basic questions of cosmology; the Christian interpretation of the origin of the Universe; the relationship between evolution and creation; the relationship between science and religion; the "scientific creationism" in the USA and elsewhere. At the end of this course, students should be able to understand the basic problems of the creationism versus evolutionism controversy as well as be able to explain basic arguments of the both sides of the controversy.
At the end of the course students should be able to:
define basic relations between religious and scientific interpretation of the Universe
define basic forms of religious account of the Creation
describe basic structure of the scientific interpretation of the Universe (evolution)
describe basic examples of Creation versus Evolution discussions.
Syllabus
  • (0) Introduction.
  • (1) Creation in Christian tradition: History of the idea.
  • (2) Evolution in Christian tradition: History of the idea.
  • (3) "Scientific" creationism: Definitions and ideas I.
  • (4) "Scientific" creationism: Definitions and ideas II.
  • (5) Strategy of "scientific" creationism in the USA.
  • (6) Evolutionary theory and the falsification criterion.
  • (7) "Scientific" creationism as a pseudoscience.
  • (8) Case study: Species notion in the "scientific" creationism.
  • (9) "Scientific" creationism and media.
  • (10) Case study: Noah s Ark (catastrophism versus uniformitarianism?).
  • (11) Case study: Man - a contemporary of dinosaurus?
  • (12) "Scientific" creationism in the Czech Republic.
Literature
  • DAVIES, Merryl Wyn. Darwin a fundamentalismus. Vyd. 1. Praha: Triton, 2002, 70 s. ISBN 8072542672. info
  • BĚLKA, Luboš. Evolucionismus a vědecký kreacionismus (Evolutionism and scientific creationism). Brno: CERM, 1998, 9 pp. ISBN 80-7204-079-0. info
  • DARWIN, Charles. Darwinův Původ druhů v ilustracích. Edited by Richard Leakey, Illustrated by Richard E. Leakey. 1. vyd. Praha: Panorama, 1989, 220 s. ISBN 80-7038-023-3. info
  • Okultismus a věda. Translated by Kateřina Štěpánková. Praha: Stanislav Libovický, 1994, 190 s. ISBN 80-901672-0-9. info
  • Spor o Darwina. Edited by Phillip E. Johnson - Alena Koželuhová. 1. vyd. Praha: Návrat domů, 1996, 211 s. ISBN 80-85495-57-0. info
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussions, reading of texts, homeworks
Assessment methods
Colloquim requirements:
(a) active attendance of the lectures;
(b) essay (homework).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2001, Spring 2003, Autumn 2003, Spring 2007, Autumn 2007, Spring 2010, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2014, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2014/RLB52