Last year, FGR began offering two philosophy electives as part of the theology department. Building upon the popularity of the Introduction to Philosophy and Modern Philosophy courses, two additional philosophy offerings were added this year, including a World Religions course for seniors. As students are introduced to the origins, key doctrines, rituals, ethical principles, and historical developments of major world religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Taoism, and more, they compare them to Catholicism and note the similarities and differences, develop an understanding of the Church’s beliefs regarding both respect for people of other religious traditions and the call to evangelize all peoples, and learn to articulate how the fullness of truth is found in the Catholic faith. The class is part of FGR’s ongoing commitment to strengthening our liberal arts offerings and emphasize the Catholic Intellectual Tradition in our curriculum. We were pleased to invite Mrs. Cynthia Brown to join our faculty to develop and teach these courses.
Philomena Michalik ’25 enjoyed her first experience with philosophy last year, which led her to take World Religions alongside Theology IV this semester. “I chose to take this class because of my positive experience with Mrs. Brown’s Modern Philosophy class and my interest in learning about other religions and cultures,” Philomena reports. Yohannan Joel ’25 explains his choice by saying, “I chose to take World Religions alongside second semester theology because I love studying other religions. I love apologetics and learning more about what others around the world profess helps me be a better witness to Christ.”
Megan Paul ’25, who chose to take World Religions in place of Theology IV appreciates learning about other religions so that “we, as Catholics, can better understand particular aspects of our own faith.” She goes on to note that “The Church also calls on us to engage in dialogue and collaboration with those of other faith traditions, and by learning about their religions, we can better understand and empathize with them.”
Although only weeks into the class, the students have already learned many interesting facts about other faiths. Yohannan appreciates a better understanding of religion in general. “Learning what the word ‘religion’ means changed my view on the idea of religion as a whole,” Yohannan states. “Everyone is ‘bound back’ by some set of morals, even if they call themselves atheistic or irreligious.”
Recently, Fr. Ed Fride, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church and a member of our Board of Trustees, engaged the students in two presentations about Judaism as a guest lecturer. In his first discussion, he provided an overview of the Jewish faith and beliefs and then moved on to discuss feasts and memorials in the second session. “I found Fr. Ed’s lectures very interesting and informative. I particularly enjoyed learning about the various Jewish holidays and feasts,” Megan says. Yohannan agrees. “Fr. Ed is super knowledgeable and very fun to learn from. Learning the seven denominations of Judaism from him was informative, but my favorite part was hearing his experiences with Jewish families and in Israel.”
Mrs. Brown’s students appreciate the class and her teaching. Philomena is enjoying the experience and Mrs. Brown’s teaching style. “I love this class because Mrs. Brown brings it to life. For example, she brought in a Shofar (which is a Jewish horn blown to start the Sabbath). Two classmates tried blowing into it, so we got to hear what the start of the Sabbath would sound like for the Jewish people.”
Megan and Yohannan feel everyone should take the class. Megan says, “Learning about world religions can properly prepare us to go out and evangelize or even just have the ability to interact with people while treating them with respect.” Yohannan adds, “Mrs. Brown is certainly one of my favorite teachers! Her passion for Christ and teaching shows, and she teaches excellently, whether it be rationalism or Islam. World Religions under Mrs. Brown is valuable for going out into new college communities: caring deeply about your faith means understanding those around you, to best witness to Jesus. All people seek God in some way, so learning about others’ walks of life enables us to better bring others to Jesus Christ.”