RELIGIOUS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
The classes in this department attempt to help all students recognize, discuss, and fulfill their spiritual and religious needs. Through an orderly progression of material, the department addresses both cognitive and affective religious education objectives and outcomes which are developmentally appropriate to the lives of its students. Therefore, all students are required to attend these classes in order to understand better and live out their own traditions and their personally developing faith.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION I:
INTRODUCTION TO SACRED SCRIPTURE
Students will read selected sections of the Hebrew Bible. Among Christians, the Bible is normative for the study of theology for worship and for daily living. A presentation of the context in which the Bible was written (i.e. the historical background, the literary styles of writing, and the cultural patterns) will help the students to understand the meaning of the passages. Thus, all students will be able to use this process for their own study, prayer, and application to contemporary situations.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION II:
CHRISTOLOGY, CHURCH AND SACRAMENTS
A contemporary theological view of Christ, the Jesus of history and of faith, is presented. Using a careful blend of sacred scripture, history, tradition, and human development, Christian students will be offered the opportunity to engage in a commitment to Christ; non-Christian students will be exposed to the Jesus of history with the opportunity to understand Christian beliefs.
Through a study of the Christian Community of faith from the time of Jesus to the present, students will be exposed to the origins, development and traditions of the Church; they will examine how this vision of the Christian Community is reflected in the post- Vatican II sacramental life of the Church.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION III:
THE MAKING OF MORAL DECISIONS
The junior religious education program explores the process of making a moral decision. By investigating theological, moral and ethical principles, along with issues of human development, the students are encouraged to confront global, national and personal socio-moral dilemmas.
An application of this process is used to understand the making of moral decisions in the context of human relationships. Issues of human sexuality and marriage are explored, especially in light of the current teaching of the Catholic Church, in order f or students to deal with present cultural influences.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IV:
CHRISTIAN SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SERVICE
The Church and the Society of Jesus strongly urge young people to become “men and women for others.” As a result, Scranton Prep requires for graduation that all seniors perform a minimum of 50 hours of service. The projects will be assigned or approved by the Director of Service Programs.
In class students will reflect upon their experience of service, will analyze social structures, and will examine the tradition of the Church on social justice. The student will also apply the Church’s social teachings to contemporary issues such as the economy, war and peace, health, hunger, respect for life, environment, racism and sexism, the growth of the human person as a socially concerned individual, faith, and social morality.