Three weeks ago, I posted Pastor-Scholar: Year One (Pt. 1), which contains a series of reflections on my first semester of doctoral studies (in Religion) at BU. As promised in that post, I will now continue such reflections, focusing on the courses I took in semester two.
In the Spring of 2025, my course experience was a bit different than it was in the Fall. In the Spring, I enrolled in two undergraduate religion courses at BU and one graduate seminar at Harvard Divinity School.
The first course I’ll mention was History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa, cross-listed in the departments of history, African American studies, and, of course, religion. This ended up being a very small class, just five students, in which I was the only graduate student.
As stated in the syllabus, the purpose of the course was “to study the development of religion in Africa in the period before the European takeover of the continent. It will devote attention both to traditional religions of Africa and to the growth and development of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the continent as a whole.”
This course, taught by an expert on the history of West Central Africa (before 1800), was a relatively new offering at BU. A large portion of its content then, was quite fluid, since scholarship on this topic is rather limited.
In fact, this course –which was based on a draft book manuscript written by the professor– appears rather groundbreaking in its attempt to trace the history of religion (of all kinds) in pre-colonial Africa (a topic quite underexplored).
One of the primary reasons I took this course was to explore, more fully, the shape of ancient Egyptian religion and the particular religious culture of the Nile Valley throughout history (which feeds into my dissertation project on Christian veneration of the Nile in pre-modern Egypt).
The course primarily featured pre-class readings (mostly primary sources with some secondary essays) and in-class lectures (by the professor). As the lone graduate student, however, I was afforded the opportunity to do extensive supplementary research on Nile veneration throughout Egyptian history, writing my final paper on precisely this topic.
Not only this, but I was allowed the opportunity to deliver a lecture on recent Christian manuscript finds from Old Nubia, a kingdom stretching along the Nile from Khartoum to Aswan.
Ultimately, this course exposed me to the rich –often understudied and/or misunderstood– history of religion in pre-colonial Africa. It also afforded the chance to interact with BU undergraduates (mostly religion majors) and be mentored by an accomplished historian of religion.
The second course I took at BU was about as far from my specialization as one can get: Healing and the Body in East Asian Religions. Despite one’s specialization, every doctoral student in the department of religion must satisfy a World Religions requirement.
“The goal of this requirement,” per the graduate handbook, “is for students to attain breadth in the diversity of global religious traditions, such that they could design and teach a course on world religions, such as: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but also Africana, Latin American, and indigenous religions, as well as new religious movements.”
Given that my specialization is Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World (i.e., Egyptian Religion, Judaism, Christianity, Greco-Roman Religions, Islam, etc.), taking a course on Buddhism, Daoism, Shinto, and Shamanism, was rather “out of my wheelhouse,” you could say!
The course, however, was a truly enriching experience, and in the end, I am glad I enrolled. As opposed to the previous course, this class was very well attended, including nearly 20 students, two of whom were graduate students. The other graduate student (a close friend of mine) and I completed all the same readings as the undergraduates (plus some extras) but were exempt from the “group project” which the other students completed.
Instead, he and I had to compose a joint conference paper proposal and a longer (25+ page) final paper on a topic connecting the course’s focus with our own research interests.
In reading primary sources from ancient Buddhist and Daoist scriptures and reading accounts about Shinto shrines and Shamanistic rituals, I was exposed to an array of East Asian religious traditions, which are alive and well in the east and now in the west.
This course featured rich in-class discussion, led mostly by the undergraduates themselves, helping me learn what kinds of questions and concerns 18–21-year-olds are asking about “religion” and how this purportedly “spiritual” phenomenon connects with health, medicine, and the body today.
Finally, the third course I took was an advanced graduate seminar on Jewish Christianity taught by the internationally renowned expert Annette Yoshiko Reed. One of the best perks of studying religion in Boston is the opportunity to take courses at a wide variety of institutions, such as: Boston University, Boston College, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and Harvard Divinity School (among others).
This was the first course I had taken at Harvard, and it did not disappoint. As the second best institution in the world for religious studies education, it was a humbling and intimidating experience to participate in this seminar.
The topic was also extremely interesting: Jewish-Christianity. Back in January, I preached a sermon on Ephesians 2:11-22 entitled Strangers No Longer. As stated in that sermon, many scholars think the term “Jewish-Christianity” connotes a kind of hybrid-religion, which itself assumes two pure and discrete religions: Judaism and Christianity.
When you sit down and look at the ancient sources, however –which we did in painstaking detail through every session of this course– you’ll see that such distinctions are almost impossible to sustain. Scholars all over the world are engaged in fierce debate over the exact historical nature of early Judaism, Jewish-Christianity, and non-Jewish Christianity (if such a thing even existed).
Since everyone enrolled was either a master’s or Ph.D. student (all from Harvard; I was the only non-Harvard student), the level of discussion in-class was quite remarkable. The other students also represented an array of religious traditions, including Jewish, Africana, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, Mormon, Baptist, and others. As was expected, the professor displayed some of the most sophisticated analytical thinking I have ever encountered in my education thus far.
As was the case in semester one, here my ministerial identity was on full display, never jeopardizing (in an apparent way) my academic credibility in the classroom.
Over the course of this semester (as opposed to the Fall), I was exposed to particular religious traditions quite different than my own (i.e., Buddhism, Daoism, Shinto, Shamanism, Rabbinic Judaism, Islam, African Religions, etc.).
I was also made aware of currents in religious thinking among 18–21-year-olds (at a non-religious university) and older students (25+) at a prestigious, internationally acclaimed university such as Harvard.
These courses stretched me both academically and personally, helping me learn how religion (ancient and modern) is perceived in the wider world today.
As I prepare for semester number three, I look forward to being shaped and formed in similar but unpredictable ways.
Throughout this process, I trust that God is continually molding me as a servant and teacher of his Word, for the benefit of his body, the church.
Pastor Jonah