Study Theology, Even If You Don't Believe in God

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/study-theology-even-if-you-dont-believe-in-god/280999/


The Evangelist St. Matthew with his symbol, the angel (The National Library of the Netherlands)

When I first told my mother—a liberal, secular New Yorker—that I wanted to cross an ocean to study for a bachelor’s degree in theology, she was equal parts aghast and concerned. Was I going to become a nun, she asked in horror, or else one of “those” wingnuts who picketed outside abortion clinics? Was I going to spend hours in the Bodleian Library agonizing over the number of angels that could fit on the head of a pin? Theology, she insisted, was a subject by the devout, for the devout; it had no place in a typical liberal arts education.

Her view of the study of theology is far from uncommon. While elite universities like Harvard and Yale offer vocational courses at their divinity schools, and nearly all universities offer undergraduate majors in the comparative study of religions, few schools (with the exceptions of historically Catholic institutions like Georgetown and Boston College) offer theology as a major, let alone mandate courses in theology alongside other “core” liberal arts subjects like English or history. Indeed, the study of theology has often run afoul of the legal separation of church and state. Thirty-seven U.S. states have laws limiting the spending of public funds on religious training. In 2006, the Supreme Court case Locke v. Davey upheld the decision of a Washington State scholarship program to withhold promised funding from an otherwise qualified student after learning that he had decided to major in theology at a local Bible College.

Even in the United Kingdom, where secular bachelor's programs in theology are more common, prominent New Atheists like Richard Dawkins have questioned their validity in the university sphere. In a 2007 letter to the editor of The Independent, Dawkins argues for the abolishment of theology in academia, insisting that “a positive case now needs to be made that [theology] has any real content at all, or that it has any place whatsoever in today's university culture.”

Such a shift, of course, is relatively recent in the history of secondary education. Several of the great Medieval universities, among them Oxford, Bologna, and Paris, developed in large part as training grounds for men of the Church. Theology, far from being anathema to the academic life, was indeed its central purpose: It was the “Queen of the Sciences” the field of inquiry which gave meaning to all others. So, too, several of the great American universities. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton alike were founded with the express purpose of teaching theology—one early anonymous account of Harvard's founding speaks of John Harvard's “dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches”, and his dream of creating an institution to train future clergymen to “read the original of the Old and New Testament into the Latin tongue, and resolve them logically.”

[beerandjesus]

1. Thank you for helping me "rationalize" my hobby!

I've been fascinated by theology ever since.... well, since I turned away from the Church of my upbringing.

[cbayer]

2. Really enjoyed this. Thanks for posting.

[edhopper]

3. We should make a distinction

between studying theology anthropologically to learn the rites and beliefs that people have. Religion is a big part of our culture, so learning it's impact is laudable.
Study theology to determine ,for example; what the Bible really "means" or what God really says to us and wants us to do is a colossal waste on par with using a Ouija board.

Yes, people have developed ethical guidelines from the Bible, but if in the end their rational is that that is what God wants, then they have no more credibility than those who burn women as witches for the same reason.

[trotsky]

5. Very true. n/t

[cbayer]

6. Agree and I think she is referring to your first definition.

While I think seminars like the Jesus Seminar could be fascinating, they are really philosophical debates and I don't think anyone expects to get the "right" answer.

They are distinguished from courses or degree programs that study religion historically or in it's current social/political context.

[LostOne4Ever]

8. I will have you know

That playing on a Quija board is hardly a waste of time. Its a great way to manipulate the gullible!

"Im moving it? Why I would NEVER do such a thing. If I'm not moving it and your not moving it then obviously the ghosts think you should give me all your share of the cookies!!!"

[p class=post-sig style=margin-top:0px;text-align:center;]

[div style='color: #B20000;font-size: 2.000em'] [center] Not all those who wander are LOST!!! [/center]

[edhopper]

9. Hey

Why didn't i try that when I was young and dating gullible girls?

Ouija: "You should f**k Ed!"

[Lordquinton]

4. I enjoy Mythology

From the Greek Pantheon, to Egypt, to the Desert god of Abraham, they all have fascinating histories, and parallels, and borrow from each other all the time.

[dimbear]

7. One caveat. If you don't believe in God, many careers in theology are closed to you.

That's not entirely unfair, but it always seems to come as a surprise to those it catches.