World Religions and Christian Witness

Program Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in World Religions and Christian Witness is for those who will teach, train, and lead Christian engagement with the religious traditions their neighbours actually hold. Most Christians encounter other religions as stereotypes. Missionaries, chaplains, pastors, and teachers need something better: accurate knowledge of what a tradition teaches, how its adherents practise it, what its internal debates are, and where Christian witness can be honest rather than clumsy. Students undertake systematic study of the major traditions — Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism, Chinese and Japanese traditions, indigenous religions, and new religious movements — with primary texts, ethnographic description of lived practice, and attention to the difference between textbook religion and popular religion. The theological half of the programme addresses revelation and general revelation, the theology of religions, conversion and its social cost, contextualization and the boundary with syncretism, insider movements and the debates around them, apologetics that respects the interlocutor, and the ethics of witness in settings where conversion carries danger. Fieldwork method, interview ethics, and the reading of one tradition's language or sources are all required. The dissertation contributes original research on a tradition, a community, or a question of Christian witness. Graduates teach missiology and world religions, direct training for mission agencies, serve as chaplains in multifaith settings, and advise churches engaging religiously plural communities.

Core Courses

• WRL 801 — Study of Religion: Method and Ethics (6 credits)
• WRL 812 — Islam and Judaism (6 credits)
• WRL 824 — Indic and East Asian Traditions (6 credits)
• WRL 836 — Indigenous Religions and New Religious Movements (6 credits)
• WRL 848 — Theology of Religions and Christian Witness (5 credits)
• WRL 860 — Field and Textual Research Design (4 credits)
• WRL 899 — Doctoral Dissertation in World Religions (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in theology, philosophy, religious studies, ethics, or a related field
• Prior study in philosophy, the sciences, or another discipline the specialization engages
• Statement of purpose naming the question your research will address
• Academic writing sample demonstrating sustained argument
• Current curriculum vitae
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available