A Student's Guide to Religious Studies

by D. G. Hart

Overview

The study of religion is fraught with difficulties that raise important questions about the nature of faith and the purpose of advanced learning. Although religion has been foundational to some of the United States’ most prestigious universities, religious studies is a relatively recent addition to the liberal arts curriculum.

In this insightful guide, D. G. Hart explores the conundrums surrounding the ambiguous position of religious studies in the contemporary academy and offers advice about the best way to approach and benefit from the teaching and study of religion in contexts often hostile to faith.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781932236583
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	07/01/2005
Series:	Guides to Major Disciplines
Edition description:	1
Pages:	90
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

D. G. Hart is Director of Fellowship Programs and Scholar-in-Residence at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He has served for many years as a Christian college administrator and professor of church history. Among his several books are The University Gets Religion: Religious Studies and American Higher Education, The Lost Soul of American Protestantism, and That Old-Time Religion in Modern America: Evangelical Protestants in the Twentieth Century.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	1
I	The University's Religious Roots
	The Myth of Christian Higher Education in America	4
	The Era of the Christian College	8
	The University Gets Religion	16
	In Search of an Academic Niche	21
	The Professionalization of Religious Studies	28
II	The Academic Problem with Religion
	Why Study Religion?	37
	A Plausible Rationale	46
III	Religion in the West
	Before the Christian Empire	56
	The Rise of Christendom	64
	Western Christendom Divided	70
	Christianity and Modernity	80
	Take What You Can Get	100
	Notes	107
	Student Self-Reliance Project: Embarking on a Lifelong Pursuit of Knowledge?	109