For people of faith who want religious degrees, distance education is a viable option. It's often hard to find faith based education that is convenient. Traditional schools that offer religious degrees may not exist in your community. If they do exist, they are frequently more financially challenged than other schools, and offer fewer classes when non-traditional students can take them.
People of any faith can find distance education particular to their faith. You can learn Hebrew or Arabic online...or you can learn in Hebrew or Arabic online. There are three basic categories of religious education that you can access online.
Religious Degrees From a Religious Worldview
People of faith have a particular worldview, and sometimes you want an education that is consistent with that worldview. For example, an evangelical Christian might want to go to an evangelical Christian school, or an Islamic student might want to go to an Islamic school. For the most part, religious schools don't reinforce biases and prejudices. Instead, they begin with a certain set of assumptions, usually about God and the universe, and learning is shaped by those assumptions.
There are some good reasons to take online classes from these schools. If, for instance, you plan on a career related to your faith, a faith-based degree might enhance your career opportunities. Sometimes people attend religious classes because it's just easier and more comfortable to learn with people who are like you and believe like you do. And sometimes they want to explore their own faith in greater depth, and choose a religious degree program for that reason.
Religious Degrees That Apply Your Faith
Another reason people might want to pursue getting a religious degree is to prepare for a career. It's very common to use online learning or distance education for this. Christians can attend Bible school and seminary through online learning to prepare for a variety of ministry jobs.
People of faith get religious degrees to prepare for other careers, too, such as counseling. A Hindu may choose to get a degree in ayurveda, a vedic system of natural healing that has its roots in Hindu faith. Counseling and ayurveda are both practical degrees that allow you to use your faith in your career.
Religious Degrees for Scholars
Some people pursue religious degrees to satisfy their intellectual curiosity, or to do advanced study in some facet of religion or just to learn more about religion in general. They may or may not practice the faith that they are curious about.
Distance learning is a great way to engage in scholarly religious study. Through distance learning you can not only get a degree, but you can also study with experts all over the world. You can take a class on the Talmud from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, or study the words of Jesus from a Jesus Project scholar.
Whatever your reason for getting a religious degree, distance learning will make it an obtainable goal for you.
