Program Overview

Religion, B.A.

Requirements for a Major in Religion

The Bachelor of Arts in Religion requires thirty semester hours, including the following courses:

• REL 3305: Interpreting the Old Testament (3 hours)
• or REL 3319: Interpreting the New Testament
• REL 3330: Introduction to Church History (3 hours)
• REL 3351: Introduction to Christian Theology (3 hours)
• or REL 3390: Christian Ethics
• REL 3345: World Religions (3 hours)
• REL 4399: Senior Seminar (3 hours)
• Six additional semester hours of REL courses, three of which must be at the 4000-level (6 hours)

Areas of Emphasis

Students must select nine semester hours from one of the following areas:

Bible

• Select nine hours, three of which must be at the 4000-level (9 hours)
  • REL 3301: Psalms and Wisdom Literature
  • REL 3303: Archaeology and the Bible
  • REL 3304: Prophets
  • REL 3307: Former Prophets
  • REL 3308: The Literature of the Pentateuch: Narrative, Poetry, Genealogy, and Law
  • REL 3311: Jesus and the Gospels
  • REL 3312: The Johannine Literature
  • REL 3314: Paul and His Writings
  • REL 3315: The General Epistles
  • REL 3325: Women and Gender in the Old Testament
  • REL 4302: Archaeology and the Ancient Near East
  • REL 4305: Topics in Old Testament Studies
  • REL 4315: Topics in New Testament Studies
  • REL 4317: Early Christianity and Identity in the Roman World

Biblical and Related Languages

• Select one of the following pairs of classes (6 hours)
  • REL 3309 and REL 3310: Advanced Biblical Hebrew I and Advanced Biblical Hebrew II
  • REL 3320 and REL 3321: Advanced Classical and Biblical Greek I and Advanced Classical and Biblical Greek II
• Select three semester hours from the following (3 hours)
  • REL 4303: Aramaic
  • REL 4304: Syriac
  • REL 4315: Topics in New Testament Studies

History

• Select nine hours, three of which must be at the 4000-level (9 hours)
  • REL 3331: Topics in Historical Studies
  • REL 3333: History of Roman Catholicism
  • REL 3338: Women in Christian History
  • REL 3344: New Religious Movements in the United States
  • REL 4333: History of Protestantism
  • REL 4335: Baptist Life and Thought
  • REL 4336: Introduction to Religion in America
  • REL 4337: The European Reformation
  • REL 4338: Women in Religion in America
  • REL 4340: Christian Missions
  • REL 4341: World Christianity

Practical Studies

• REL 4340: Christian Missions (3 hours)
• or REL 4374: Leadership in Ministry
• Select at least six semester hours from the following (6-7 hours)
  • REL 2480: Introduction to Ministry
  • REL 3381: Communication in Ministry
  • REL 3382: Cross-Cultural Ministry

Theology and Ethics

• REL 3351: Introduction to Christian Theology (3 hours)
• or REL 3390: Christian Ethics
• Select six hours, three of which must be at the 4000-level (6 hours)
  • REL 3354: Christianity and the Arts
  • REL 3370: Religion and Literature
  • REL 3391: Global Ethics
  • REL 3394: War and Peace in the Christian Tradition
  • REL 3397: Gender, Feminism and Theology
  • REL 4350: Augustine's Theological Development
  • REL 4355: Salvation
  • REL 4388: Christian Literary Classics
  • REL 4389: Disability Ethics
  • REL 4390: Contemporary Christian Ethics Theory
  • REL 4393: Environmental Ethics
  • REL 4395: Bioethics
  • REL 4397: Race, Racism, and Religion in America

World Religions

• Select nine semester hours from the following (9 hours)
  • REL 4342: Christianity and the World Religions
  • REL 4343: Topics in Islam
  • REL 4346: Topics in Asian Religions
  • REL 4347: Topics in African Religions
  • REL 4348: Modern Judaism
  • REL 4349: The World's Religions and Violence

A grade of C- or better in REL courses used for the major and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher for all REL courses are required.