Ateneo de Zamboanga University
Religious Studies Department
School of Liberal Arts
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Subjects in the undergraduate core curriculum
RS 111 Jesus Christ: The Center of Our Faith
Credits: 3 units
RS 111 is a foundational course in the Religious Studies programs of ADZU. The course, which is intended for Catholics, presents various topics in the following order: : God’s Revelation, Faith as response to God’s revelation, Scriptures Traditions, and Jesus Christ – the center of Christian faith and Jesus Christ. These topics aid second year college students Filipino Catholics at a college level by educating them using three main sources of Christian Faith, namely: Sacred Scriptures, sacred tradition (Church Teachings) and basic human experiences.
RS 112 Church and Sacraments
Credits: 3 units
This is a course on Church and Sacraments given to all Christian students. This is second among the courses on religious studies that students need to take. From Revelation and Faith, the students are now introduced to the Church as a community where they can practice and live out their faith as Christian believers. This course provides a close link and relationship between the Church, originated from the communion of the Trinity, founded in and by Jesus Christ and the Sacraments as Christ personal and intimate way of expressing His love to humanity- the Church being His bride. This is to provide students the opportunity to learn, relearn and unlearn things about the Church especially the Catholic Church. The first part of the course focuses on the origin of the Church linking it with the Sacrament of Initiation. The second part is the nature of the Church vis-à-vis with the Sacrament of Healing. And the last part is the mission and ultimate destiny of the Church linking it with the Sacrament of Commitment/Vocation. It culminates in the discussion on Mary being the Mother of Jesus, the faithful disciple of Jesus and model of our Christian faith as a Church. This course largely follows an interactive class or group discussion.
RS 113 Christian Commitment: Marriage and Parenting, Priestly and Religious Life
Credits: 3 units
RS 11 3 explores the areas of concern in Christian vocations: single life, marriage and the priestly life. Greater concentration is focused on the married life. Good marital relationship presupposes a right understanding of the roles and responsibilities as well as the readiness and maturity of the marital partners. This course is designed to prepare the students with a Christian understanding of the realities of a good Christian marriage. Topics include, among other things, the issues of required human maturity, the meaning of authentic loving as well as the Church’s understanding of Christian Catholic marriage.
RS 11 3 also explores possible religious vocation among Christian students to a dedicated life of prayer and service within the Christian community.
RS 114 Christian Morality
Credits: 3 units
Students are introduced to Moral Theology as a response to God’s love and becoming more fully human according to God’s design and intention in the creation of man and the world human live in. Christian Morality or Moral Theology is a course intended for Catholic and Christian students. Christian morality is designed to equip the students with Christian moral norms as guides in living fully their Christian faith-life. Christian moral life is a faith response to God’s love. Jesus is seen as our perfect response to God’s total acceptance of each of us. Christian morality therefore is modeling our response to that of Christ. It looks into the attitudes, dispositions and the mind of Christ in the New Testament as authentically human and presents these as a Christian’s guide to become true disciple of Christ and thereby become more and more like Christ.
This course also looks into the contemporary moral issues that confront humanity today. The study of Christian morality therefore searches out for moral norms in the light of Christian Faith in order to become more fully human and more fully Christ-like in our world today.
The second part of the course also provides for basic foundation and background for living an authentic Christian life characterized by an awareness of the contemporary social issues and concerns affecting the whole of humanity today and a commitment to social justice through the social teachings of the Church.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES subjects in the undergraduate core curriculum – ISLAM
RS 107 The Fundamentals of Islam and Prayer
Credits: 3 units
This is a course on the Fundamentals of Islam and it gives emphasis on the Prayer such as the five obligatory prayers, voluntary and other everyday life supplications. This is designed for the Muslim students of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University alone. The fundamentals of Islam include the six articles of faith and the five pillars of Islam. This course provides the students a venue to strengthen their faith and at the same time trains them to be practicing Muslims of the community.
R S 108 The Life of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
Credits: 3 units
RS 108 is the second among the courses on Muslim Religious Studies designed for Muslim students of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University. This course will attempt to help the students to learn and acquaint them on the way the Prophet lived and led from his birth to the spread of Islam religion. The course presents various topics such as the following: Muhammad’s Birth and Forty Years Prior to Prophethood, The Beginning of Muhammad’s Revelation, Phases and Stages of the Call, The New State in Madinah, The Battles Against the Polytheists, The Conquest of Makkah, The Farewell Pilgrimage and The Death of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). These topics are discussed to help the Second year college Muslim students be aware of t he Prophet’s life as a role model of simplicity and hum ility and for these qualities to be ingrained in them and be a natural part of their lives as they grow towards adulthood.
RS 109 Prophetic Traditions and Islamic Law Commentaries
Credits: 3 units
RS 109 is the third of the four Muslim Religious Studies courses designed for the third year college Muslim students who are believed to have grasped significant knowledge of their Islam faith. This course backs up their faith with the laws in Islam which are taken primarily from Qur’an and Surrah (Prophetic Traditions). Students in this course are expected to discern clearly and properly their old practices, whether Islamic or not. To live in Islamic way is the main aim of this course, thus students are highly encouraged to actively participate in class discussion and consultation and to reflect more often in their life as a key to a meaningful life.
This course will attempt to help the students understand and appreciate the Primary Sources of every Muslim’s faith and practice, the Holy Qur’an and the Hadeeth (Prophetic Traditions). Few topics of “Shariah” (Islamic Law) are also introduced to acquaint them with the basic practices with regard to worship and general conduct that befit a Muslim. The course presents various topics such as the following: USOOL AT TAFSEER (Commentaries), USOL AL-HADEETH (Prophetic Traditions) and USOOL AL-FIQH (Islamic Law). These topics are discussed to aid the t hird year college Muslim students learn and understand critically that the Qur’an is the “expression and explanation of God’s Laws of creation or nature, and the strongest and immutable source of religious Rules and Pillars”.
Deepening the understanding and appreciation about the Commentaries, Prophetic Traditions and Islamic Law could only be made possible by digging into its sources from the Primary and Secondary Sources of Islamic Faith. The Primary Sources are: Holy Qur’an and Hadeeth of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The Secondary Sources: Ijma’ (Consensus) and Qiyas (Analogy).
RS 110 Marriage and Parenting in Islam
Credits: 3 units
This course deals with marriage and parenting in Islam. Basically, marriage is a sunnah (tradition) of prophet Muhammad (SAW) whom Muslims follow and take as their model. In this regard, RS 110 is designed for the Muslim students to provide them with a picture of how the prophet built and sustained his own family so that they would be guided in their own marriage life. This course also offers a venue for them to realize their role in the family as well as in the community in reference to their rights and obligations.
