What is Religious Studies?
Why Religious Studies?
RS Among the Liberal Arts

The Religious Studies department offers a substantial program of study enabling students to explore the Christian faith with intelligence and sensitivity. The foundation of the program is knowledge of the Bible, to which the faculty are committed as inspired and authoritative. In addition to courses in Old Testament, New Testament, and biblical languages, classes in theology allow for in-depth consideration of important doctrines, courses in theological history encourage attention to the church's tradition, and courses in religion examine the global context in which we live. The purpose of the major is to lay a foundation of serious thought about God and God's Word.
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You want to major in what?

We can imagine the scene. About six weeks into the semester, a Westmont student calls home. Sometime during the conversation, the student announces (with some hesitation), "Mom and Dad, I think that I may want to major in Religious Studies." They reply, "You want to major in what?"

What can you do with a degree in Religious Studies?

Our graduates are doing all sorts of things. Some go into careers right after Westmont. Many are pastors or missionaries. Others are working as accountants, public school teachers, purchasing agents, editors, professors, marketing directors, translators, social workers, business managers, and counselors. They are teaching English as a second language, starting small businesses, and providing technical support for international relief and development.

Westmont RS majors have been admitted to graduate programs at UC-Berkeley, University of Michigan, Yale, Harvard, Emory, Duke, Chicago, and Vanderbilt. They have earned seminary degrees at Fuller, Princeton, Westminster, Denver, Western, Regent, Talbot, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Gordon-Conwell, Candler, Duke, and Yale.
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A Christian liberal arts education shapes people for life, not simply for a specific career. Whether in the RS component of the General Education requirement, an RS minor, or an RS major, you will learn to interpret texts, understand ideas, work with people, and communicate clearly. Your professors will seek to make you an informed, discerning, committed, and maturing lover of the truth found in Jesus Christ. These are the characteristics of someone who can be faithful to the gospel in many circumstances and callings throughout life.
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