Department of Religion
The Department of Religion is a community of faculty members, staff, undergraduate and PhD students, who work together on issues of religious identity and the journey of faith in our world. We affirm Baylor’s mission for Christian higher education—our academic reputation highlights vigorous research and teaching, service to the church and the academy, and collegiality.
Programs
Our undergraduate program in religion invites students to inquire more deeply into the Christian faith, to gain an enhanced appreciation of the contributions of Christianity to the development of twenty-first century culture, and to prepare for life-long lay or career ministry. We offer courses of study in Biblical Studies, Historical Studies, Theological Studies, Practical Studies, and World Religions.
The Ministry Guidance program at Baylor University is designed to help students who are exploring careers in ministry - referred to as ministry students - to clarify and affirm their call to ministry and to introduce them to ministry as a vocation.
Our Religion Department provides the context for a flourishing Ph.D. program with concentrations offered in the Old Testament, New Testament, Historical and Theological Areas. Faculty are committed to a strong research agenda, and that agenda is tied to the Baylor tradition of providing the very finest in classroom instruction.
News
Read More NewsAllison Brown, a PhD Student at Baylor University, has been selected as an NEH Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of 21 seminars and institutes supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. She will participate in a seminar entitled “Printing and the Book During the Reformation.”
After a 15-month renovation that started in 2020, Tidwell Bible Building reopened for the start of the fall 2021 semester. With the renovation, Tidwell is now able to display artifacts from biblical times that were acquired with the help of Dr. Bruce Cresson, a former professor in the Department of Religion.
The Department of Religion is honored to display a portrait of Rev. Robert L. Gilbert in the 1st floor lobby. Rev. Robert L. Gilbert — an influential educator, pastor and civil rights leader in the Waco area — graduated from Baylor in 1967 with a B.A. in religion. In 1970, he became the first African-American to enroll in Baylor’s graduate program in the department of religion.
During a ceremonial ribbon cutting, Baylor University today celebrated the opening of the newly-renovated Tidwell Bible Building, one of many historic buildings that make up the core of the University’s campus.