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Higher education in theology and science of religions

There are around 20 establishments offering theological education and science of religions at a university level in France.
Most of them are private confessional higher learning institutions. 7 are Catholic, meaning, 5 universities or Catholic institutes (Instituts catholiques) of Paris, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse, Angers, as well as the Jesuit Faculty of the Centre Sèvres and the Faculty Notre-Dame of the diocese of Paris. There are also 5 Protestant establishments namely, the Protestant Institute of Theology of Paris and Montpellier, the Free Faculty of Reformed Theology in Aix-en-Provence (Faculté libre de théologie réformée), the Adventist School of Theology at Salève, the Free Faculty of Evangelical Theology (Faculté libre de théologie évangélique) in Vaux-sur-Seine. Furthermore, there is St. Serge Institute of Orthodox Theology (Institut de théologie orthodoxe Saint-Serge), Russian Orthodox Seminary (Séminaire orthodoxe russe en France), and the Jewish Seminary (Séminaire israélite de France), all in Paris. There are several private institutions for Islam : the European institute of human sciences (l’Institut européen des sciences humaines) established in two places (Centre de Bouteloin in Saint-Léger en Fougeret and IESH de Paris in Saint-Denis, close to Paris), the Ghazali institute of the Great Mosque of Paris), and the French institute of Islamic studies and sciences (Institut français des études et sciences islamiques) in Boissy Saint-Léger.
In Alsace-Moselle, there are also 3 public establishments of higher learning whose principal mission is to teach both theology and the science of religions: the Catholic and the Protestant Faculty of Theology (Faculté de théologie catholique and Faculté de théologie protestante) which are affiliated to University of Strasburg, the Independent Centre of Religious Education and Pedagogy (Centre autonome d’enseignement et de pédagogie religieuse) affiliated to the Paul Verlaine University in Metz. Their presence in State universities is rendered possible by the local law.
Finally, there are 2 other public establishments of higher learning which offer a course in science of religions: the section of science of religions (section des sciences religieuses, 5th section) of the Practical School of Advanced Studies (École pratique des hautes études - EPHE) in Paris and the University of Aix-Marseille III which offers two Master’s programmes in religion.

D 28 January 2016    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

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