The Best Religion Classes Online: This Year’s Advice

religion classes
We identified 3 online learning providers that have courses in religion. Our research found that edX is the best.

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Our Methodology for Selecting Online Religion Classes

Our research found that edX has the best world religion classes online, especially if you want to learn about Christianity, Judaism, and major Asian religions.

To reach our conclusion, we browsed all the top online learning provider websites. Specifically, we spent dozens of hours reviewing course descriptions, reading student reviews, and examining the educational backgrounds of the instructors. Our focus was primarily on the five major world religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

We identified three popular online learning providers — edX, FutureLearn, and The Great Courses — that offer high-quality classes on world religions.

edX Has the Best Online Religion Classes

Our research found that edX has the best religion classes. Their classes cover many topics such as biblical archaeology and major Asian religions.

Our Favorite edX Religion Classes

We think the following edX religion classes are the best:

  • The American Prophet: The Inner Life and Global Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. course from Stanford University explores his life through historical analysis. This course focuses primarily on how Dr. King inspired the civil rights movement. You can complete this course in 11 weeks if you study for 2 to 4 hours per week.
  • The Reading Religious Conversion course from IsraelX examines how religious communities function. You can complete this course in 12 weeks if you study for 4 to 8 hours per week.
  • The Religion and Conflict Transformation course from Boston University will teach you about the basic tools of conflict analysis. You can complete this course in 12 weeks if you study for 4 to 6 hours per week.
  • The World Religions Through Their Scriptures online course from Harvard University explores the evolution of Judaism, Christianity, and three major Asian religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism — through their religious texts. You can complete this short course in 7 months if you study for 5 to 10 hours per week.

 

Other edX Religion Classes

We also think most people will like the following edX religion classes:

  • The Bible in Light of the Ancient Near East course from IsraelX explores the world of Israel’s neighboring civilizations in biblical times. You can complete this course in 9 weeks if you study for 2 to 4 hours per week.
  • The Biblical Archaeology: The Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Judah course from IsraelX explores the role of archaeology in our understanding of biblical Israel. You can complete this course in 8 weeks if you study for 3 to 4 hours per week.
  • The Hinduism Through Its Scriptures course from Harvard University explores the rich diversity of Hindu sacred texts. You can complete this course in 4 weeks if you study for 5 to 10 hours per week.
  • The Monasteries course from Harvard University examines the role of handwriting during the “paper revolution” of the later Middle Ages. You can complete this course in 3 weeks if you study for 1 to 2 hours per week.
  • The Oriental Beliefs: Between Reason and Traditions course from LouvainX explores the beliefs of Ancient Egypt and major Asian religions. You can complete this course in 8 weeks if you study 2 to 3 hours per week.

FutureLearn Has Great Online Religion Classes

Our research found that FutureLearn offers several high-quality online classes for learning about world religions, too.

Our Favorite FutureLearn Religion Classes

We think the following FutureLearn religion classes are the best:

  • The Antisemitism course traces the history of antisemitism from antiquity to the present. Experts from Tel-Aviv University and Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies developed this course. You can complete this course in 6 weeks if you study for 3 hours per week.
  • The The Modern Judiciary course examines the role and day-to-day responsibilities of judges in the U.K. An academic from the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London developed this course. You can complete this course in 5 weeks if you study 3 hours per week.
  • The Tudors course explores the turbulent history of Tudor England. Professors from the University of Roehampton developed this course. You can complete this course in 6 weeks if you study for 5 hours per week. 
  • The Why Religion Matters course explains why religion is important for understanding global challenges. Professors from the Open University developed this course. You can complete this course in 4 weeks if you study for 3 hours per week.

 

Other FutureLearn Religion Classes

We also think most people will like the following FutureLearn religion classes:

  • The Book of Kells course explores the history, theology, and politics of early medieval Ireland. Professors from Trinity College Dublin developed this course. You can complete this course in 4 weeks if you study for 4 hours per week.
  • The Buddhism and Zen course examines how Buddhism promotes living in serenity and ease. Professors from The Open University developed this course. You can complete this course in 4 weeks if you study for 3 hours per week.
  • The Norwegian Stave Churches course explores the history and architecture of the churches. Experts from The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage developed this course. You can complete this course in 2 weeks if you study for 3 hours per week.
  • The Waterloo to the Rhine course examines the social, cultural, and military changes in the British Army between 1815 and 1945. A professor from the University of Kent developed this course. You can complete this course in 4 weeks if you study for 4 hours per week.

The Great Courses Has Good Online Religion Classes

Our research found that The Great Courses offers over 80 online classes about world religions, including several major Asian religions. That’s obviously too many for us to list here. We suggest you go check out their religion course website to find a course that interests you.
 
Some of our favorites include Exploring the Roots of Religion, New Testament, and Old Testament. However, there are also several other online classes on other world religions, especially major Asian religions.

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