RELC 2360

Professor Jones is truly wonderful. This course usually requires weekly readings, but they're not that bad. Professor Jones does a really great job at explaining them in lecture. He does his best to make it interesting, even when you can tell that even he is about to fall asleep. I did genuinely enjoy his lectures, though. He is passionated and entertaining. There are usually 4 papers total all semester: 2 short response papers and 2 long midterm/final papers. These can be a little challenging, but Professor Jones will meet with you or answer questions to help out. I would recommend this course to anyone looking to fulfill their second writing requirement, or anyone who just wants a basic introduction to christian theology.

The class itself is great, but the star of the show is truly Professor Jones. He is very kind and understanding, and took time to get to know me this semester. My TA, Blair, was also great. Both were eager to help and were very kind.

This class contains many dense and dated theological texts in the first half of the course before transitioning into more contemporary works after the midterm essay. I found many of the early readings to be incredibly dense and incomprehensible at times, but Prof. Jones does a good job of clarifying what the authors are saying. The discussion sections tend to be somewhat dry, and I found the grading (done by the TAs) to be inconsistent and very subjective, especially considering 4 written assignments make up 85% of the overall grade. Certainly not an easy A; I did every reading and spent multiple days crafting the essays and received minimal feedback and a B+.

Jones was a great Professor, and I’d highly recommend taking this class if you are looking to fill an area requirement. It’s not an easy A, but the workload is manageable and you can easily get an A-. Jones makes the somewhat boring topics fun and cracks some good jokes. He reminds me of James Corden

Jones is a good professor in that he does a great job of explaining the concepts and summarizing the readings, but that is only if you can stay awake. The material itself, in my opinion, is very boring, and his lectures aren't all that entertaining, so unless you are particularly interested in Christianity, don't take it. Isn't too difficult, 100% based on writings which come from understanding the readings, so unless you use a reading when you're writing an essay, it's absolutely worthless. Also, coming from personal experience, writing an essay on a reading you barely skimmed is a terrible idea, so my advice would be to read, and read throughly, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the readings, and don't even open the other ones. Don't buy the course book, it's $7 for one reading. Chris was my TA, kinda a dick, little bit of a God complex (pun intended) and made you feel like an idiot throughout discussion, but generally a fair grader in my opinion, so he could've been worse.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU ARE NOT A RELIGIOUS STUDIES MAJOR.
Professor Jones is an alright professor who is kind of entertaining and funny, BUT HE WAS LYING when he said you didn't need any prior knowledge about Christianity/religion to do well. The readings are super dense and if you didn't know even at least a little bit about the Bible like I did, you would have been so confused. This class's material is so dry and boring but because I wanted to do well, I forced myself to do a majority of the readings.

Your success/happiness in this class entirely depends on your TA, and at least my TA was PURELY AWFUL. He NEVER let his students talk during discussion, obviously cared much more about his PHD than educating us, and when it came to essay grades he absolutely DESTROYED US. I can handle harsh graders, but my TA (Eric Hilker) gave absolutely NO CLEAR GUIDELINES on how to write good papers, give NO GRADE UPDATES whatsoever (literally, the grade book was blank on collab and you had no idea how you were doing in this class), and acted as if everything was okay when secretly many of us were getting Bs/B-s. I ended up with below an A-, and this is coming from someone who genuinely tried in class, did all the readings, went to office hours, and actually participated in discussion when everyone else was stone-cold silent.

This is RIDICULOUS for a class that is supposed to be INTRO LEVEL RELIGIOUS STUDIES. MARK MY WORDS, YOU WILL NOT GET AN A IN THIS CLASS MAYBE UNLESS YOU ARE A RELIGIOUS STUDIES MAJOR.

This was a great course!! Very interesting subject material if you're looking into bigger theological ideas. I loved Prof. Jones as a lecturer as he kept us engaged and was passionate about his work. Go to his office hours just to talk to him! Evan was a great TA--he had very thoughtful responses to questions and really knew his information. This class is pretty heavy on reading, though. The lectures tie directly into what the readings are on and really support the lectures.

Jones is a very good lecturer. Material is presented in a concise, informative manner. There is a fair amount of reading for each class, but I found it helpful to do the reading after hearing Jones's lectures on the subjects. Chris was a nice enough TA, but had a tendency to dominate discussions and was not very responsive to emails.

Professor Jones is an amazing guy! Sadly, this course depends wholly on your TA. All the grades come from writing exercises so if you are looking to sharpen your writing skills, this class is not a bad idea. Jones knows a lot about the subject he teaches so it is a worthwhile experience. Try to avoid Rachel as TA.

If you are looking for an interesting second writing requirement course, I highly recommend this class! It is a straight forward, interesting class that allows you to learn a lot without a ton of effort. Jones is a fantastic lecturer. The syllabus is well-crafted moving from Augustine and old Church writings to Reformation writers to modern theology. You do not need to do every reading -- three response papers, a midterm, and a final are all that is required. I personally went to lecture (because they were so good!) and did not read until I needed to write a paper, and only read the authors I decided to write on. This class is great if you are a Christian, and it is great if you are not a Christian. Charlie was a fantastic TA -- so helpful, fair grader, and made Thursday discussions go by quickly. Take anything with Jones! He has a British accent!

Paul Jones is probably the best lecturer at UVA. This is a great class to take if you are interested at all in Christian Theology, probably my favorite class at UVA so far. We also spent some time on modern christian theology; such as, black theology of liberation and womanist theology, and how those theologians have impacted American Christianity.

We did three 2 page response papers, a 6 page midterm paper, and a 12 page final paper. At least 25 pages of reading assigned every week, sometimes more. I didn't do all of the reading and still got a B.

Scott (Leonard is his first name) Lipscomb was an awesome TA, take it with him if you can.
If you are looking to fulfill your second writing requirement use this class!

Professor Jones is one of the best professors I've ever had at UVA. He is so excited for every lecture and really makes you want to do the readings and learn the subject. Lectures are long and very informative, so you have to pay attention, but they make your week much more interesting. I recommend going to all of them, even though they aren't required. Most of your grades come from your writing, so keep that in mind if you are signing up for this class.

I absolutely loved Professor Jones! If his accent alone isn't enough to draw you in, his enthusiasm and passion for the material definitely will. When I initially walked into the class I was worried about my limited religious background; however, all of the content of the course is highly approachable.
Throughout the semester you have 3 response papers, each of which must be 2-3 pages in length written on a passage of your choosing. For the midterm, you get to choose two prompts and write 3-4 pages for each. For the final, again you get to choose two prompts and write 5-6 pages for each. (All of the papers are to written at home.)
Although it may seem like a lot of reading when you get the syllabus, you'll get the most out of this course if you actually do the readings and attend lecture.
Charlie was an absolutely wonderful TA!!!!

This is a great class for a non Religious Studies major and a MUST-TAKE if you are a Religious Studies major.

fulfills the Second Writing Requirement.

There are three response papers that get you to think deeply about the readings

There are no in-class exams, but rather a midterm of 6-8 pages and a final of 10-12 pages.

Paul Jones is brilliant, has deeply outlined and focused lectures, and always ends each lecture by allowing students to ask clarifying questions. He cares far more about students getting a better sense of Christian ideas than getting a good grade spread. He is really approachable in person or by email.

Jones is easily the best lecturer I've had at UVa. He is engaging, thought provoking, and so very charming. I looked forward to going to class, and feel that I really learned a lot. This is not an easy A, but it is definitely manageable.

Only evaluations are 3 short response papers, a midterm paper, and a final paper.

Jones received a standing ovation in his final lecture, and it was certainly deserved. Seriously, take this class!

Paul Jones is adorable and a wonderfully engaging lecturer. The readings can sometimes be dry and dense, but I recommend doing them after he lectures about them so they make more sense. This is interesting, complex material, and Jones encourages you to think critically about it which is great.

If you can read and write critically, you'll be fine on the tests. 3 short response papers, and the midterm and final are written take-home exams.

Don't take this class if you want a super easy class or are uncomfortable talking about religion, but do take it if you're looking to actually learn about interesting material!

Reuben was a great TA!