Religion in the 21st Century

Religion has long shaped world history in profound ways, both for good and ill. Since the Enlightenment era, however, many of the major religions of the world have been challenged by the rise of science and rationalism and have struggled to maintain their cultural authority and influence. This course will explore the meaning and value of religion beginning with the Axial Age when many of the world’s great religions emerged and moved up to the 21^st century when many of the traditional religious worldviews and norms have lost their cultural dominance.

Rev. Lou Snead is a retired Presbyterian minister who studied religion in a Master’s degree program at Florida State University before receiving a Master’s of Divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He served four urban congregations- one in Virginia and three in Texas during his forty years in ministry. His own spiritual journey began with conservative Christianity and has progressed through a philosophy of religion leading him to appreciate the challenges that many forms of organized religion face in the world today.