The Advanced Master of Divinity is an accelerated degree program for students who have a baccalaureate or Master of Arts degree in religion or biblical studies and who have at least a 3.3 college grade point average. The program is designed to allow a student to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of biblical and theological studies and to gain specific ministry skills as is expected at the Master of Divinity level.

Applicants must have completed at least 6 hours at the introductory level in Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey, Church History, and Systematic Theology (or 3 hours at the introductory level plus 3 hours at an advanced level in each of these subjects).

In each of the above subjects, students must not only have the minimum of 6 hours, but their course work must have covered the full scope of the discipline, i.e., course work that covers the whole Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi, the whole of the New Testament, Church History from the 1st to the 21st century and Introduction to Theology that covers Bibliology through Eschatology. Only courses credited with a “B” or higher will be accepted for these requirements, and applicants who have not completed these hours will not be admitted to the Advanced M.Div. program.

Applicants must also submit an acceptable 12-20 page undergraduate research paper demonstrating their research and writing ability in some area of biblical or theological studies. Students should also have completed 3 hours each in ethics, philosophy, hermeneutics, preaching, elementary Hebrew, and elementary Greek, but if not, they may complete them as prerequisites while enrolled in the Adv. M.Div. program. Only courses with a “B” or higher will be accepted for these requirements.

In addition, the Advanced Master of Divinity program is designed to develop critical thinking and research skills, and in one of its two concentrations, it offers the opportunity for more in-depth study through the writing of a 40-60 page thesis. In the non-thesis concentration the student will take an additional elective course in the place of writing a thesis.

The curriculum for the Advanced Master of Divinity combines the cohesiveness of a core of required courses with the flexibility of elective choices.

Vocational Objectives

• Pastorate
• Preaching
• Biblical and Theological Studies
• Doctoral Studies
• Teaching in University or Seminary

^uSee Written Communication Requirement in Academic Section.
¹Pastoral Ministry (40301) is reserved for men. Women will substitute The Practice of Ministry for Women (40302).
²The two-hour Supervised Research Experience is to be satisfied through supervised research at home or abroad (students are encouraged to travel to Oxford, England to satisfy this SRE).
³If a student takes Christian Preaching (30000) because of an entrance deficiency, then that student must take Preaching Practicum (30020) to fulfill the preaching elective requirement. Christian Preaching (30000) is reserved for men. Women will substitute The Ministry of Teaching (45400). Preaching Practicum (30020) is reserved for men. Women will substitute courses 45450, 46515, or 48100.
⁴A two-track Adv. M.Div. option is offered: 1) Track One is a thesis track. The student will take Advanced M.Div. Thesis Writing (40375), and write a 40-60 page thesis. 2) Track Two is a non-thesis track. The student will take a three-hour elective in place of the two-hour Thesis Writing Course.