"Faciendi et Credendi" means, in Latin, "Believing and doing." For the Christian, this should evoke the Letter of James: "What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" (2:14). It also evokes the idea that the study of religion involves both the beliefs and practices of a religious community. Finally, it recalls that students of theology and religious studies are engaged in both classroom learning and active participation in volunteer service, ministry, etc.

Faciendi et Credendi is the blog for the Religious Studies/Theology Program at Loras College. It is an ongoing, public account of student progress that the program requires of all its majors. The blog provides an electronic “space” for students to reflect on their experiences as a major and on the relationship of those experiences to other facets of their life at Loras.

In order to post to the blog, first find the appropriate topic by clicking on the Blog Prompts tab. Find the prompt based on how long it has been since you declared your religious studies/theology major. Then, return to the Home tab and click on New Post in the top right corner of the page. This will open an html editor where you can type your post.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

First Semester After Declaring Major (By Week 11)

I feel like the most educational and rewarding class I have taken in my time at Loras so far would have to be World Religions with Dr. Waldmeir. Now, I could say that it was the amazing people in my class that did it, but it was a lot more than that. I did not really know a lot about many other religions besides Catholicism before taking the class. Yes, I knew all of the obvious stereotypes about the different faith traditions, but that did not mean anything to me. Throughout the entire course I was able to read and discuss different faith traditions, and then after the class was done reading and discussing we actually got to go to the worship spaces of these faith traditions and get hands-on experience about what the tradition is really about. These fieldtrips are where I learned the most during the course. It not only gave me a deeper understanding of the faith tradition but a greater reverence and respect for them as well.
Even though I was learning about other faith traditions during this course, I was able to also come to a greater understanding of my own faith. I was able to learn more about who God is, not only to me but to everyone else around me. I was able to see God in a bigger sense because I was able to take Him out of this “Catholic box” that I have had Him in all of my life. I was able to see God more fully as the God of the universe and the God of ALL peoples around the world. Of course, I still hold my Catholic faith at highest regard, and I know that the Catholic faith is the truest form of worship of God on earth. However, I was able to see that God shows Himself differently to different people in the world. I was even able to see God when we studied the Hindu tradition which has over 300 gods. You see, the Hindus have a belief that there is an overseeing force in the universe that keeps everything together called Braman. This Braman is how the Hindus explain God, and all the other 300 gods are the different attributes and characteristics that our God has. After taking the World Religions J-Term I am able to understand, not only the other traditions that we studied, but God Himself in a greater light.
I do not know if there are a lot of things that need changing about the course. I would say that maybe there should be a bit more structure in the way the fieldtrips are planned out so that we are visiting a place that we are studying at the time we go on them. I think we only had that problem once throughout the course, however. I would also think it would be a good idea to try and fit in another faith tradition to study or alternate which ones are studied throughout the years in order to add some more variety.
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  1. Dr. John Waldmeir, Associate Professor, Loras CollegeApril 5, 2013 at 2:35 PM

    Colleen:

    If there was ever any doubt about what a great student you are, it disappeared with your realization that WR was your most rewarding course.

    I really am pleased that you liked the course and even happier that it made you think in new ways about the interactions between faith traditions. I'm always puzzled when I hear some students sounding so suspicious of other traditions--as though learning about them and from them will somehow diminish their own beliefs. I liked your image of taking God out of the "Catholic box."

    I hope you will stay interested in some of the issues we raised in the course about how to compare and contrast traditions. With luck, the material will be useful to you in other classes and, who knows, maybe you'll wind up writing a thesis about inter-religioius dialogue. Thanks. jw

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