In contribution to the mission of Bluffton University to provide a superior liberal arts program shaped by the historic peace tradition of Mennonite churches, the Religion Department of Bluffton University has four objectives:
- to teach the skill and value of critical thinking toward Scripture and toward historical-denominational traditions with an aim toward deeper commitments to God as known in Jesus Christ and greater critical appreciation for the students' own heritage;
- to expose all students at Bluffton University to Judeo-Christian history, literature and values in particular conversation with Anabaptist and Mennonite perspectives and traditions;
- to offer a program of in-depth study for those whose interests take them beyond the minimum exposure to religion in general education courses and that provides further skill in biblical interpretation, in assessing theological proposals and in passing on theological traditions; and
- to be a defining center of contemporary free church theology for both the academic community and the Anabaptist and Mennonite churches.
To accomplish this four-fold mission, the Religion Department offers two majors, six minors and a pre-seminary program, each of which reflects and is shaped by the peace church heritage and the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition while remaining in conversation with other Christian traditions.
