Subject: Protestant Theology/Religious Education

You would like to

• critically reflect on perspectives on God, the world and humanity,
• examine the Bible using academic methods,
• explore and evaluate ethical issues,
• engage with different religions, and 
• explore: How can I turn this into good religious education lessons?

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In our studies of Protestant theology and religious education, we engage – in the literal sense – with God and the world. Theology is a wide-ranging and communicative discipline that explores many topics and perspectives, often in dialogue with other subjects. The aim is to seek answers together to the important questions of life – questions that even children and young people ponder as they grow up. We must be able to do justice to these questions in our professional practice as religious education teachers.

To achieve this aim, a sound understanding of biblical theology is essential. The development of conceptions of God and the image of humanity is traced through the exegesis (interpretation) of the Old and New Testaments.

Church history shows how the Christian faith has, to a greater or lesser extent, withstood the challenges of society over the centuries. Of course, one cannot simply extract the answers to the questions people ask today from this history. However, the history of Christianity makes us more sensitive to current problems, which often have a history of their own.

Systematic theology aims to present the Christian faith in a coherent manner, so that teachers are equipped to respond to the curious questions of young people and to provocative questions from society. To this end, dialogue with the natural sciences is particularly important, as these are the primary influence on the formation of opinion for a large proportion of people. The same applies to contemporary philosophy, which also develops answers to questions of individual and societal existential importance. Last but not least, systematic theology also involves a discursive engagement with non-Christian religions and worldviews.

At our university, Protestant and Catholic lecturers collaborate in a variety of fruitful ways. If you study Protestant theology with us, you will also have the opportunity to learn about the sister denomination, should you wish to do so.

A special extracurricular programme is the ‘Sharing Worldviews – Interreligious Encounter and Learning’ certificate, which is funded by the EU. To obtain this additional qualification, students of philosophy or ethics, as well as those studying Jewish, Catholic, Islamic and Protestant theology and religious education, attend selected courses offered by other denominations and faith traditions. They develop their ability to engage with the diversity of worldviews in our schools and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to facilitate ‘interfaith encounter-based learning’ in schools.

We, as the Departmental Representative Committee for Protestant Theology, are a group of students committed to the subject. 

• We are the point of contact for any questions or concerns relating to the subject of Protestant Theology.
• We organise various events such as regular get-togethers, the Semester Opening and the summer party.
• We take part in departmental meetings, maintain regular contact with lecturers and actively raise students’ concerns.
• We liaise with the Student Union and other departmental representatives, and actively influence university policy.

You can contact us at: mailto:fave.evangelisch@ph-karlsruhe.de or on Instagram at "fachschaft.ev.theologie.phka". We also run a WhatsApp group for all students on the course.