University of Religions and Denominations this institute became legally a university. This university is a private centre of learning and research. It has the following ideals and goals: The university currently has three departments: There are nine courses of study with about 500 male and female students currently pursuing their master’s degrees. Each department has three courses of study. The courses available at the Department of Religions are Abrahamic Religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism); Non-Abrahamic Religions (Hinduism, Buddhism) and religions of ancient Persia. The courses available at the Department of Islamic Sects are: Sufism and Islamic spirituality, Theological Sects and Jurisprudential Sects and the courses
Bible and Orient Museum close bonds of the Bible with its ancient Near Eastern surroundings. Keel observed that without knowledge of these symbols, many biblical comparisons, symbols and visions cannot be properly understood and thereby demonstrated the general importance of ancient Near Eastern cultural history for biblical science. By interpreting biblical texts in their historical context, a fundamentalist-literal understanding of the Bible can be avoided. Furthermore, this approach shows the relations between Islam and Judaism, between Christianity and Judaism, between Judaism and ancient Near Eastern Paganism, and thereby relativizes the claim to absolute truth by the monotheist religions. Subsequently, Keel and his colleagues successfully