Cult Classics: An Introduction to New Religious Movements

An online short course introducing cults, or New Religious Movements. This 4-week course is a sociological introduction to cults – or better labeled as new religious movements (NRMs). The class will learn and discuss the definition of religion, church, sect, and NRM. Following this discussion, we will examine the beginning of three mainstream religions: Islam, …
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Envisioning Peace Together – An Interfaith Retreat

This interfaith weekend retreat will center around the vision of peace offered in Isaiah’s oracle and imaged in the painting, “The Peaceable Kingdom” by Edward Hicks. It will offer the opportunity to explore spiritual practices that support an awareness of the Divine and transformation of consciousness that can serve peace. Experiential practices, reflection, and sharing …
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In the Beginning: Classic Christian and Jewish Pathways to Understanding the Book of Genesis

“These stories [in the early chapters of Genesis] have provided a foundation for three of the world’s major religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Furthermore, arguably, these pages also provide the foundations on which Western civilization as we know it today has been built. Indeed, few questions are more fundamental to human existence than Who am I? …
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VST Current Course Listings

Many of the courses in this list are both online and in-person. Unfortunately, there is not a simple way to list all of the online courses.  

Introduction to the Bible Lands

During the course our academic staff and chaplain will enable you to: Explore the Holy Land as Christian pilgrims Visit key biblical sites from the Old and New Testaments Understand better the historical contexts and cultures in which Biblical stories took place. To integrate contextual biblical study with theological and spiritual reflection To encounter the …
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