A brief Google search reveals that programs in Comparative Religion are rare at undergraduate colleges. At Christian colleges such a major is almost non-existent. While many Christian schools have programs in Bible, Pastoral Ministry, Youth Ministry and Missions, the study of non-Christian religions appears to be rapidly disappearing, with the exception of an occasional “World Religions” course offered at a small number of schools. Indeed, one of the suggested essay topics in the American Academy of Religion’s 2010 “Call for Papers” is “the continual shift of the academic study of religion from theological schools to colleges and universities.”

 

This shift is puzzling. Since so many contemporary world events revolve around the various religious systems, one would think that Christians—a group that has been given a Great Commission of global proportions—would be at the forefront of those interested in religious matters.   It seems not a day goes by that we don’t hear something about “radical Islam” in the news. Less often, but still quite regularly, one hears about clashes between Hindus and Muslims in India, or about the influence of Tibetan Buddhism through the books and lectures of the Dalai Lama, or about the rapidly expanding “Confucian capitalism” of China, or comments by Jewish leaders regarding conditions in the state of Israel. One reads of fears concerning the alleged influence of the New Age Movement upon American educational philosophy, and the growth of witchcraft and “satanic cults” within America’s cities and suburbs.

The Department of Religion at Nyack College is nearly unique in that it offers a complete program in comparative religious studies taught from a Christian perspective. At Nyack, the course entitled “World Religions” serves merely as the gateway to an entire spectrum of the religions in the modern world.   Students have the opportunity to pursue in-depth studies in South Asian Religions, East Asian Religions, Islam, the History of Judaism, the History of Christianity, Catholicism and Orthodoxy, the New Age Movement and the Occult, Islam in the West and Alternative Religious Movements in America. In addition, courses are also offered in the Psychology and Sociology of Religion, the Philosophy of Religion and various Topics in Religious Studies.

 

One of the advantages of pursuing studies in Religion at Nyack is the proximity of the college to the New York City metropolitan area. In the Rockland Campus area, there are numerous Jewish synagogues representing every type of Judaism, four Muslim mosques, a Hindu temple, a Zoroastrian temple, and several Buddhist institutions. In the environs of Nyack itself there is a New Age Center, a Christian Science Reading Room and Masonic lodges. And at the Manhattan Campus, a mere twenty-five miles away, lies New York City where virtually every kind of religious movement known to man may be found. A better “laboratory” for the study of religions can scarcely be imagined!

 

So - a multi-purpose degree at a multi-cultural Christian institution of higher education in one of the most religiously diverse metropolitan areas on earth. Check out the Religion major at Nyack College!

 

This major is offered at the Rockland Campus.