Academic study of the Bible takes you to the roots of Judaism and Christianity and values that have shaped cultures all over the world. It opens up new understandings of religion, politics, the arts, and social issues like race, gender, and sexuality--all of them influenced by how people interpret the Bible.
Biblical studies intersects with studies in many other academic disciplines. Because it examines human experience, cultural values, history, literature, theology, and argumentation, biblical studies relates to psychology, sociology, political science, peace and justice studies, anthropology, archaeology, American studies, African and Africana studies, museum studies, art history, music, languages, women's, gender, and sexuality studies, environmental studies, pre-law, ethics, and philosophy. Even if biblical studies doesn't count toward your major or minor, it will relate to and deepen your understanding of other subjects you study. You’ll be able to take what you learn and apply it to other courses and majors.
You'll become more aware of other people's cultural and religious perspectives. You'll build skills as a proficient reader, a precise writer, and a thinker who can analyze a text's complex ideas and understand them against their historical backgrounds and the views of contemporary interpreters. You'll bring these skills to other courses, real-life situations, jobs, and careers.
Most employers are not looking for specific disciplinary skills—you will gain most of these on the job. Instead, they want employees capable of learning and growing into a position and adapting to a variety of jobs over the course of their career. Courses in biblical studies could help you develop many of the top ten skills employers identify as important, including facility in both written and verbal expression, the ability to work through complex information and problems, an understanding of global contexts, and a strong sense of ethics and values.
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Did you know that 60% of American CEOs have humanities degrees? The short and long-term outlook for majors in the humanities, including biblical studies, is excellent, due to depth and breadth of their training and the intellectual flexibility this work helps to cultivate. Studies show that students in the humanities earn good salaries and find ample opportunity for career development and advancement. More than two-thirds of humanities graduates work in the private sector. In short, humanities degrees and courses in areas like biblical studies could help prepare you for a range of jobs in the public and private sectors, including not-for-profit work and business. Humanities degrees could also prepare you for graduate and professional schools in fields such as medicine, law, and business.
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Tools to document the role of the humanities in the economic life of the United States
An initiative of the National Humanities Alliance Foundation, serves to strengthen humanities recruitment efforts across the country.
The national honor society for religious studies and theology.