What classes have you taken that help you discuss religion?

Question

Have you taken any academic courses in religion, philosophy, science, etc that has significantly influenced the way you discuss/debate?

Answer 1

I've taken a lot of courses in philosophy, including one on philosophy of religion (thought religious topics were discussed in at least 5-6 of them). I think that some of my physics and biology courses also influence my religious viewpoints (and therefore are relevant in my religious discussions).

My logic courses are also significant (lots of people on both sides of religious debates frequently use invalid arguments). Some of my high school history courses are relevant too, I guess. (The logic/philosophy/science courses I mentioned were taken mostly in college.)

EDIT: Somehow I managed to leave out a "Great Books" class I took my freshmen year in which we read the Bible (as literature) and several other Christian texts from Augustine, Aquinas, Dante, etc. (I can't remember all of them).

Answer 2

Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Religion, and Speech classes in college all helped me to debate politics, religion and practically any subject of interest.

I have found that philosophy is number one to understanding religion, because they take you back before Christianity existed, next was Sociology, because it helped you to understand the norms and creeds of societal structures and Religion last, because with history and behavior, you could connect the dots with each religion and have a reasonable understanding of where they derived from.

Psychology and Speech lastly, because if you understand how to "listen" to people and then communicate with them based upon what they know and feel at the time, you can do it in a sophisticated and articulate manner for analytical minds and in an emotionally driven manner for artist minds.

Answer 3

I took six classes in comparative religions in college as electives, one class in philosophy, too many science classes to list and four or five psych classes.

I think no matter what you learn you can't help but have that influence how you see the world around you and how one relates that to others.

Answer 4

After learning competitive communication in collegiate debate for a few years I read Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication that helped temper the debater in me somewhat (in that not every disagreement has to be decided with a winner and loser, many times we just see something different when we look at teh same thing from different points of view).

Answer 5

My English II class is kind of like a philosophy class, and so is my AP European History class. We're all really close friends and we just usually sit there and talk about why people make the decisions they made in history, and read our english essays and talk about what they were about (which is usually related to philosophy)

Answer 6

I have taken a number of philosophy and theology courses. It did have a major impact on me. I ended up becoming an atheist as I realized the need to be self honest.

Answer 7

Comparative religion, philosophy & logic, anthropology, statistics, biology & genetics, astronomy, chemistry and some physics. Logic was probably the most helpful in discerning the strengths and weakness of an idea.

Answer 8

I have a master of divinity degree, which takes 3 years to complete; about 110 graduate hours. So, yes, I've had a few.

Answer 9

Logic
Philosophy
World Literature
Biology
Environmental science
All the psychology courses to earn bachelors

Answer 10

Kindergarten