Know every faith. Stand in yours.

If you have ever found yourself in a conversation with a Muslim colleague, a Hindu neighbor, a friend exploring Buddhism, or a family member drawn to a new religious movement — and felt the quiet panic of not knowing enough to say anything useful — you already understand why this school exists.

Most Christians are never given the tools to engage other faiths well. We are handed either vague warmth ("all religions are basically the same") or reactive defensiveness ("just stick to the Bible") — and neither serves us, our neighbors, or the gospel. What we actually need is knowledge: careful, honest, historically grounded knowledge of what other people genuinely believe, where those beliefs come from, how they are practiced in real communities, and where they genuinely agree or disagree with Christian faith. That is what this school is built to give you.

I have designed this curriculum on two commitments that I hold together without apology. The first is intellectual charity: every tradition we study deserves to be understood accurately, on its own terms, from its own best sources — not through a caricature, not through a polemical summary, not through the lens of its worst practitioners. The second is theological honesty: I am a Christian, this school is taught from a Christian perspective, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. What I am committed to showing you is that those two commitments do not contradict each other. Seeing clearly and standing firmly are not in tension. They are, in fact, exactly what faithful discipleship requires.

We begin with the methods — the professional tools of comparative religion that allow you to describe before you evaluate, to hear before you judge. Those tools will stay with you through every unit: through the covenantal history of Judaism, the rise of Islam and its Five Pillars, the Sanskrit cosmology of Hinduism, the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, the remarkable egalitarianism of Sikhism, the social philosophy of Confucius, the quiet naturalism of Daoism, the ritual world of Shinto, and the new religious movements reshaping neighborhoods across North America. At every turn, we will pause for genuine Christian dialogue — not a verdict, but a real theological conversation about where the traditions touch and where they diverge.

By the time we reach the final unit — on the history of interreligious encounter, the debate over religious pluralism, and the theology of faithful witness — my hope is that you will feel something you may not have expected: not anxiety about other faiths, but confidence. Confidence grounded not in dismissiveness, but in understanding. You will know what your neighbors believe. You will be able to say so accurately. And you will be equipped to share what you believe with clarity, humility, and genuine respect.

That is the invitation. I am glad you are here.