Religion & Society vs. Divinity

As some of you may know, I have started a Master of Divinity program at Claremont School of Theology. Yes, I am doing exactly  the thing I said I wouldn't do... I am studying to become a minister. "Never name the well you will not drink from".

My undergraduate degree is in Religion & Society, which is best described as "Cultural Studies though the lens of religion". It is an academic pursuit. I wanted to stay firmly attached to my security blanket of logic. I wanted to avoid the somewhat more emotionally uncertain area of ministry... not to mention the fact that I did not want to be attached to any one tradition. I feel that once a person identifies too closely with any particular religious tradition, one very quickly loses all objectivity. I SWORE  I would not do that... and yet, here I am.

I have, at this writing, concluded my first week of classes. I LOVE my classes! I LOVE this school! Having the opportunity to study here is such a privilege that sometimes I can't believe that it is really happening to me. However, I am studying "divinity" here, NOT "religion & society".

One of the first things that I noticed as being most obvious here is that all of my classes are taught from a Christian point of view... which is appropriate, since this is part of this school's mission. However, it is sometimes hard for me to get used to. NONE of my classes at Syracuse University were taught in this way, and the language of it and the feel of it takes some getting used to. The second thing that I noticed is that. apparently, very nearly all of the other students identify as Christians.  This causes me to feel this need to blurt out, almost inappropriately "I'M A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST!"

One thing that I really liked about the way classes were approached at SU, there was never any condescending language ever used in any of the classes about any religion. In other words, teachers never said things like "superstitious savages used to believe that the trees and rocks had spirits in them." Instead, the teacher would say, simply "The trees and rocks have spirits" and this would be in context with whatever they were talking about at the time. I used to just WAIT for someone to make some kind of a negative or sarcastic remark... I was always amazed when it didn't happen. And, so far, here at CST, the same seems to be also true. Even though I know the focus is Christian, and even when we are discussing non-Christian belief systems, so far I have not once heard that nasty little self-righteous dig... and for this I am grateful.

So, so far, all is well. Hopefully, I will post more often. I am sure this experience will lead me to having a lot to say.