When I was first deciding which university to attend, St. John's was one of the first that caught my eye. They offered a major that interested me, a beautiful campus, and it was close to home – relatively close, anyway. However, one thing about St. John's almost deterred me from attending: they required for me to take at least three Theology classes as part of the Core Courses.
Even though I grew up Catholic, I strayed from my faith for many reasons that I will not discuss here. The point is, having to take three Theology classes did not interest me. I mean, what did I expect from a Catholic university, right? It was more than obvious that I would have to take Theology, and that did not agree with me. Every Theology class I had ever taken during my early school years – I went to a Catholic elementary and middle school – was all about shoving Scripture down your throat and making you parrot it back. I was tired of it, and did not see the educational purpose to it in any way. However, I decided to attend St. John's in the fall and chose to ignore the fact that I had to take, not one but three, classes that I completely dreaded. Or at least I thought I would dread them.
To my surprise, Theology class at St. John's wasn't what I expected at all. My professor (whom I should now refer to as Doctor Doctor – you go Dr. Kidd!) is absolutely amazing; even though she has her religious beliefs, her goal in class is not to convert you to her religion. All she wants is for us to learn the history of how Holy Scripture came about, which includes learning about the historical context of the stories and how these determine the foundation of both Judaism and Christianity. With her, I was able to learn why "the divorce" (as we call it) between Judaism and Christianity happened, the differences between the two religions, and now we're learning about the beginning of Christianity as its own separate religion and how its set of beliefs came about.
I did not expect any of this. I expected to sit down for one hour and twenty-five minutes twice a week and listen to someone feed ideas into my mind that I did not agree with.
And I wasn't the only one. A lot of people I've met during the months I've attended St. John's actually felt the same way I did; not everyone that attends this school is Christian, let alone Catholic, which is why many people I've encountered expressed the same opinions I did on taking a mandatory Theology class. Nevertheless, I was presented with a professor whose goal was to teach the historical context of these religions, nothing else. Not only is the material we cover interesting, but also the way in which she teaches Theology is simply amazing. She knows how to catch the attention of people my age: from using memes to analogies of pop culture, her way of teaching is simply impeccable and appropriate, not to mention extremely fun.
I can now sincerely say that I look forward to going to Theology class; I enjoy learning the context and history of the beliefs that were instilled in me since an early age. What I'm trying to say is that yes, maybe you do not want to take a Theology class, and yes, maybe it doesn't have anything to do with your major, but don't knock Theology class until you've tried it. Who knows, you might end up enjoying it as much as I have this semester.
