Atheist in Yale/Chicago div

[Raymanuel]

Hello! I'm curious if anyone knows anything about the religious environment of Yale and U Chicago. I'm going to the divinity school of one of them for the MA, but I am an atheist and I don't know how comfortable I'll be. Yale's website definitely seems to be very ministry oriented, whereas Chicago's doesn't seem that way. Just wondering if anyone can tell be how religious things get IN the classroom. I'm doing NT studies and I don't want to hear about practical application of the text or other theological issues. Anybody?

[Phenomenologist]

Hello! I'm curious if anyone knows anything about the religious environment of Yale and U Chicago. I'm going to the divinity school of one of them for the MA, but I am an atheist and I don't know how comfortable I'll be. Yale's website definitely seems to be very ministry oriented, whereas Chicago's doesn't seem that way. Just wondering if anyone can tell be how religious things get IN the classroom. I'm doing NT studies and I don't want to hear about practical application of the text or other theological issues. Anybody?

Yale seems more confessional than Chicago. In fact, I believe it was gradcafe user Lib(eration)Theologian on these boards who said one thing about Yale is that it's "like a Christian seminary." (If not LibTheologian, someone said that.) So, you may have a more confessional environment.

Chicago doesn't seem confessional to me -- or at least pluralist, perhaps. Perhaps something akin to University of Virginia, with confessional Jews and others on the faculty of the religion department, not merely Christians or secularists.

But you'll only get "practical application of the text" stuff in an MDiv program and its courses, I would suspect. Even an MA at Yale wouldn't be as much like that. However, they certainly would do "other theological issues," and such. Chicago would likely do that as well. You probably can't get around theology at a divinity school, unless you don't take any theology classes (only biblical studies and such). Usually in many programs, they still retain the Enlightenment/modernity division of biblical studies on one hand, and theology on the other. More postmodern and confessional institutions are the ones that blur these lines more.

[vega maudlin]

I know an atheist going for his *MDIV* at Chicago... not even just an MA. He's hoping to do ministry in a secular humanism context. And I would say there were a significant number of atheists/agnostics going for their MA. Someone asked when I was visiting Yale -- apparently they have a couple atheists, but it really is an extraordinarily much more Christian atmosphere.

I did NT at Chicago too, so feel free to PM me if you have more specific questions about faculty or NT classes etc.

Hello! I'm curious if anyone knows anything about the religious environment of Yale and U Chicago. I'm going to the divinity school of one of them for the MA, but I am an atheist and I don't know how comfortable I'll be. Yale's website definitely seems to be very ministry oriented, whereas Chicago's doesn't seem that way. Just wondering if anyone can tell be how religious things get IN the classroom. I'm doing NT studies and I don't want to hear about practical application of the text or other theological issues. Anybody?

[Rajiv]

Hello! I'm curious if anyone knows anything about the religious environment of Yale and U Chicago. I'm going to the divinity school of one of them for the MA, but I am an atheist and I don't know how comfortable I'll be. Yale's website definitely seems to be very ministry oriented, whereas Chicago's doesn't seem that way. Just wondering if anyone can tell be how religious things get IN the classroom. I'm doing NT studies and I don't want to hear about practical application of the text or other theological issues. Anybody?

I am one of the atheists at Yale Div. There aren't many of us, but it really has never been an issue. I suppose it would depend on what classes you take, but pretty much every course I have taken (including an intro to NT course) didn't involve much "practical application" of texts - it does come up in seminar discussions sometimes, but the scholarship you're expected to produce has a much more historical-critical bent. That said, I think part of the reason that it is less of an issue for me is because I study Asian religions and thus spend a lot of time away from the Divinity school. Also, nobody has tried to convert me or anything like that; students and faculty are very non-judgmental.

[mrber]

I've been accepted to the MAR in religion and the visual arts, which is a joint program between Yale Div & the Institute of Sacred Music. My concern is the same as what you've expressed- I want to be there to focus on religion and art because of a scholarly interest, not a personal one. I'm planning on checking out the Accepted Students day on Thursday to see if I can get a sense of the vibe and whether or not I'll feel comfortable there, though I have to say that all of the faculty and students that I've been in communication with seem great.