Remember to check your course(s) for any required books (cost of books not included in course fee). Books published by Unity House are hyperlinked and available for purchase in our online store. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery, or for expedited shipping, call Customer Service at 1-800-248-6489 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (CT), Monday through Friday.
The bookstore located at Unity Village carries additional books, some of which may be listed as required or recommended reading. To purchase books from the Unity Village Bookstore, please call 816-251-3578 Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. |
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Overview & Syllabus | Policies | Technical
Requirements |
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Introduction
What This Course Is About
Every person lives by some kind of belief system. Many people have not reflected
on what they believe. Their beliefs, nonetheless, show up daily by influencing
their thoughts, words, and actions. I Believe can be helpful in discovering
and exploring what a person really believes.
I Believe is a Spiritual Education and Enrichment elective course designed to assist adult learners in exploring their belief systems and in determining how well their beliefs are serving their spiritual growth. Over the eight-week course, students may discover hidden beliefs that influence their thought and behavior.
The course begins with an examination of three categories of belief systems:
Public, Private, and Visceral. It goes on to explore some of the formative factors,
events, early learnings, relationships, and other factors that helped shape one's
belief system.
In succeeding weeks, I Believe explores specific areas of belief,
including views of human nature, beliefs about God, Jesus Christ, and the relationship
among God, humankind, and Jesus, prayer, sin and evil, law and grace, and the
rituals and sacraments of the Christian church.
How the Course is Presented
The instructor will prepare a Learning Guide for each week's work. The Learning
Guide will include comments about the topic to be studied during the week, as
well as suggestions about what to look for in the assigned readings.
Along with this posting, the instructor will initiate discussion threads by posting
specific questions related to the week's topic of study. Students will post responses
to the discussion questions and will be able to respond to other students' postings,
as well as ask questions of interest to the class. The instructor will respond
as appropriate.
Questions of special interest to individual students will be answered by e-mail.
The final paper will be forwarded to the instructor as an e-mail attachment.
Comments will be e-mailed back to students. |
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Learning Objectives
After completing this course,
the student will be able to
- Demonstrate an
increased understanding of his/her private and
visceral belief systems.
- Identify those beliefs which are serving and are
not serving his/her spiritual growth.
- Recognize
how his/her beliefs compare and contrast with "normative
Unity" and traditional Christian beliefs.
Required Texts
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Requirements for Learners
Complete Assigned Readings
Reading assignments will vary in length, with no week's assignment being overly
long. Readings from recommended books will be listed along with readings from
required texts. Although not obligatory, the recommended readings will add
to your learning experience.
Participate in Online Discussions
Several questions will be posted in the Discussion Forum each week. Students
are asked to post a response to at least two discussion questions and to
respond to other students' postings, as they feel inspired to do so.
Visit Recommended Web Sites and Recommend Web Sites
You Have Discovered
Throughout the course, the instructor will suggest Web sites related to course
content. You are encouraged to visit the recommended Web sites. You are also
encouraged to do your own "surfing" or exploring for Web sites related
to the course material and let others in the class know what you've found
and your estimate of the site's quality.
Final Paper—"What I've Discovered"
Within two weeks of the completion of the course, each student will e-mail to
the instructor a 500-1000 word essay, in either Microsoft Word or Plain Text
format, or simply as text in the body of an e—mail message.
The essay will discuss two or more credo issues that the student has addressed
during the ten weeks of the course and explain any insights the student has
realized as a result of the reflection process.
The issues discussed may either be beliefs that became stronger through the reflection
process or beliefs that have changed as the result of reflection. The essay should
include a comment about how the insights realized will be applied in the student's
daily life. |
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Evaluation
As is the case with all SEE courses, evaluation for I Believe will
be based on a Credit/No Credit system. To successfully complete I Believe,
students must participate in each week's discussion forum and submit a final
essay. A grade of "incomplete" will be assigned for any students who
do not submit the required essay within two weeks of the close of the course
and/or have not participated sufficiently in the Discussion Forum to receive
credit for the course. |
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See class schedule or register
now.
Tuition is moderately priced.
Sign
up for information on new courses as they
become available.
We invite you to explore our other study programs,
including online
self—study, telebridge,
or the Spiritual
Education and Enrichment (SEE) programs held
at the Unity Institute campus. |
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Lesson 1
• Learn to distinguish among the three types of belief systems.
Lesson 2
• Express an understanding of some of the people, events, ideas, and cultural
elements that shape our belief systems.
Lesson 3
• Express a clearer understanding of our beliefs about human nature and how
those beliefs affect our actions. Also, understand the differing beliefs of
others.
Lesson 4
• Express more clearly our thoughts and feelings about our experience of God.
Lesson 5
• A deeper exploration of the ways we experience God and how they work
for us. We also examine our beliefs about the Holy Spirit.
Lesson 6
• Develop greater awareness and skill in explaining our beliefs about Jesus,
as well as the relationship of Jesus to God and other humans. Explore our
beliefs about the differences between "Jesus" and "Christ."
Lesson 7
• Through reflection on readings and our own prayer experience, discover and
express our understanding about what prayer is and what it accomplishes.
Lesson 8
• Explore at some depth and express our views about sin and evil, looking especially
for differences between our private and visceral beliefs in this area.
Lesson 9
• Express a clear understanding of our beliefs about law and grace. Do they
work together? Are they in competition?
Lesson 10
• To discover and express our beliefs about traditional Christian rituals
and practices such as the sacraments. What role do sacraments and rituals have
in the Unity tradition? |
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“I was motivated by the referral of friends, and knowing that it was mine to start embracing new methods of spiritual learning and discovery.”
—Greg |
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