Master of Theological Studies - Global Christianities and Interreligious Encounter in Nashville United States | Vanderbilt University

Genuine and profound understanding of Christianity requires examining other faiths, their impact on Christian thought, and how Christianity has depicted these religious traditions. This focus area explores Christianity's inherently cross-cultural and interfaith character from its earliest origins—whether through Second Temple Judaism or Roman religions in the first century CE, through encounters with Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other faiths via traders, soldiers, and missionaries, or through modern spiritual movements.

Students in this concentration will explore diverse courses that illuminate Christianity's interactions with other religious traditions and the reciprocal influences that have shaped both. The ultimate aim is to empower the broader VDS community—students, graduates, and supporters—to better grasp the intricate historical contexts of their Christian beliefs in relation to other Christian traditions and world religions.