依課程史學者D. Hamilton 的考掘，課程一字乃於文藝復興及宗教改革時期 的教育改革背景中首度成為歐洲的教育用詞。課程的出現實有其特殊意涵。在 此之前，「課程」並不存在，因此僅能稱之為前課程時代。十六世紀末，課程開 始成為教育用語。課程之始用與P. Ramus 對辯證法的改造和J. Calvin 寓意性地 使用vitae curriculum 有關。本文之目的即在探究課程字源義的宗教根源，以及 課程學者所闡釋的意涵。

Curricular historian D. Hamilton indicated that since the word curriculum first appeared as an educational word in European education reform during Renaissance and Reformation, it had a special implication. Before then, there was no curriculum and it was named the pre-curriculum period. In the late 16th century, curriculum began to be used in educational contexts. The first appearance of curriculum was concerned with the revision of dialectic by P. Ramus and the figurative usage of the word “vitae curriculum” by J. Calvin. The aims of this paper are to research on religious origin of curricular etymology and its implications which curricular theorists explicated.