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Religion | Major

Major: Religion
Degree awarded: Bachelor of Arts
Total credit hours: 31
Internship/Practicum opportunities: Visit the Career Development Center for internship information.

About the program

A Thiel College religion major will gain a vast understanding of Christianity and all other world religions. The Thiel liberal arts curriculum prepares our religion majors for a wide range of professions, not just a career in ordained ministry. You will learn about the diversity and the unity of the worlds religions with engaging courses focusing on subjects like Hebrew, Greek, psychology of religion and sociology of religion. Thiel College is affiliated with The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States. The study of religion is for anyone though who is interested in how humans make and find meaning in the world.

Visit our Academic Catalog (2023-2024) for course listings.

Major Features

1. Comprehend the nature of religion by understanding the various methods of studying religion.
2. Conceive the reality of “the ultimate” or God in relation to both inherited ideas of the past and the concerns of contemporary society.
3. Appreciate the unity and diversity of the pluralistic heritage of the world’s religions; and understand the different approaches of relating Christianity to other world religions.
4. Understand various hermeneutical methodologies and be able to apply hermeneutical principles in interpreting Jewish and Christian scriptures.

Scholarship Opportunities

Thiel College offers scholarships to students for reasons such as academic success, community service or involvement, exemplary leadership and more! The scholarships available to religion majors are:

• The William F. Behringer Scholarship for Religious Studies
• Edith Binkley Scholarship
• Walter and Gertrude Bradley Scholarship
• The Michael Robert and Laura Belle Bretsnyder Scholarship Fund
• Louis E. Creighton Scholarship
• The Rev. Dr. Luther E. and Ruth (Potts) Fackler Scholarship
• Virgil, Clara and Paul Fackler and Marian R. Moore Scholarship Fund
• Graf/Obenauf Scholarship
• Ellwood and Sara Hauser Scholarship
• The Rev. Dr. Kenneth R. May Scholarship Fund
• Mister Rogers Scholarship
• Rev. E. Stewart Proper and William Stewart Proper Memorial Scholarship Fund
• The Rev. Dr. Elmer and Dorothy Cooke Ortner Memorial Scholarship
• Edward k. Rogers and Jane Holden Rogers Scholarship
• The Rev. and Mrs. Everett R. Smail Pre- Seminary Scholarship Fund
• The Betty Harter Spence ’37 Endowed Scholarship Fund
• Rev. Robert E. Wolff Scholarship Fund
• The Rev. Harry B. Wood Jr. ’47 and Margaret Kohler Wood ’46 Endowed Scholarship Fund

Visit our Financial Aid page to learn more about the types of aid available to students.

Alumni & Careers

Graduates of Thiel College's religion programs have gone on to distinguished graduate school programs and have worked in a variety of different occupations.

Thiel graduates have pursued gradate degrees at Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, the University of Chicago Divinity School, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and nearly every Lutheran seminary! Alumni have also found employment in fields such as teaching, financial planning, non-profit administration, and hospitality.