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| ACADEMICS: MASTER OF DIVINITY |

Master of Divinity Degree

Purpose: The Master of Divinity degree lays a solid foundation of spiritual formation, research, tools and methods for a lifetime of ministry.

Emphasis: This degree provides opportunities and encouragement for personal spiritual growth, an understanding of Scripture and theology, an introduction to the historical and cultural contexts of churches, and both an understanding of and supervised experience in major aspects of ministry. The M.Div. is also the basic degree required by most schools of religion and seminaries for admission to Ph.D. or Th.D. programs.

Time Frame: The degree requires a minimum of three academic years of full-time work or its equivalent.

Please refer to the catalog for details about the M.Div.


PROGRAM: 84 HOURS1

  1. Non-Departmental: (3 hours)
    1. 5990 Introduction to Graduate Study (3)
  2. Biblical Division: (24 hours)
    1. 5001 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament (3)
    2. 5201 Advanced Introduction to the New Testament (3)
    3. 5320 Readings in the Greek New Testament (3)
    4. 5321 Advanced New Testament Exegesis (3)
    5. Three textual courses (One each from the areas of Old Testament, the Gospels and Pauline literature) (9)
    6. Languages2
      1. 5090, 5091 Beginning Hebrew (6)
      2. 5310, 5311 Elementary Greek (6)
  3. Theological Division3: (15 hours)
    1. 5400 Systematic Theology (A) (3)
    2. 5401 Systematic Theology (B) (3)
    3. 5601 Early and Medieval Church (3)
    4. 5602 Reformation and Modern Church (3)
    5. 5640 American Restoration Movement (3)
  4. Ministerial Division (21 hours)
    1. 5721 Specialized Practicum4 (3)
    2. 5730 Counseling Skills (3)
    3. 5810 Sermon Development and Delivery (3)
    4. or
    5. 5830 Biblical Preaching (3)
    6. 5850 Congregational Ministry (3)
    7. 5910 Global Evangelism (3)
    8. or
    9. 5920 Urban Ministry (3)
    10. 5720 Integrated Practicum (3)
    11. 5721 Specialized Practicum4 (3)
  5. Electives (15 hours)
    (See below for optional areas of concentration)
  1. Core requirements and exceptions are explained on page 40 of the catalog.
  2. Students who have one year of Greek and/or one year of Hebrew on the undergraduate level may apply for up to 12 hours of advanced standing (six hours for each languge).
  3. Recommended sequence: 5601, 5602, 5640, 5400 and 5401.
  4. If a student has a minimum of three years of full-time ministry experience, a ministry course that has a field component may be taken in lieu of 5721, with the approval of a full-time ministry faculty member and the professor of the course.

REQUIREMENTS FOR AREAS OF CONCENTRATION FOR MASTER OF DIVINITY

Areas of concentration are optional in the M.Div. program. Should a student decide to concentrate in an area, the courses listed below will be required in each division. Students are required to study under at least two different faculty members in his or her division. Transfer students must take at least three of the five courses with Harding Graduate School.

For an outline of divisions and areas, refer to page 40 of the catalog.

  1. Apologetics:
    1. 5550 Christian Ethics (3)
    2. 5520 Faith and Reason (3)
    3. 5470 Providence and Suffering (3)
    4. One course from the Historical Theology Area
    5. One course from the Systematic Theology Area
  2. Campus Ministry:
    1. 5853 Campus Ministry (3)
    2. 5871 Transformational Teaching (3)
    3. or
    4. 5810 Sermon Development and Delivery (3)
    5. One of the following:
      1. 5910 Global Evangelism (3)
      2. 5900 Church Planting (3)
      3. 5920 Urban Ministry (3)
    6. One of the following:
      1. 5550 Christian Ethics (3)
      2. 5520 Faith and Reason (3)
      3. 5470 Providence and Suffering (3)
    7. 5904 Congregational Development and Conflict Management (3)
  3. (NOTE: One of the two required M.Div. practicums should specialize in campus ministry.)
  4. Church Planting:
    1. 5900 Church Planting (3)
    2. 5911 Evangelization by the Local Church (3)
    3. 5902 Small Groups Ministry
    4. 5904 Congregational Development and Conflict Management (3)
    5. 5901 Spiritual Leadership (3)
  5. Counseling:
    1. 5740 Theories of Personality (3)
    2. 5760 Family Development and Parenting (3)
    3. 5857 Family Life Ministry (3)
    4. Two other counseling courses (6)
  6. (Note: One of the two required M.Div. practicums should specialize in counseling.)
  7. Global Missions:
    1. 5910 Global Evangelism (3)
    2. 5951 Gospel and Islam (3)
    3. 5940 Missionary Anthropology (3)
    4. 5950 Ethnotheology (3)
    5. One other missions course
  8. (Note: One of the two required M.Div. practicums should specialize in missions.)
  9. Homiletics:
    1. 5810 Sermon Development and Delivery (3)
    2. 5830 Biblical Preaching (3)
    3. Two of the following:
      1. 5840 Preaching from the Old Testament (3)
      2. 5841 Preaching Wisdom Literature (3)
      3. 5842 Preaching Christian Doctrine (3)
    4. One course from the Ministerial Division (3)
  10. Leadership and Church Health:
    1. 5901 Spiritual Leadership (3)
    2. 5902 Small Groups Ministry (3)
    3. or
    4. 5911 Evangelization by the Local Church (3)
    5. 5904 Congregational Development and Conflict Management (3)
    6. 5905 Church Health (3)
    7. One course from the Ministerial Division (3)
  11. New Testament:
    1. 5210 New Testament World (3)
    2. 5220 New Testament Theology (3)
    3. 5350 Seminar in the Synoptic Gospels (3)
    4. One Greek textual course (3)
    5. Any course in the Biblical Division (3)
  12. Old Testament:
    1. 5020 Archaeology of the Bible (3)
    2. 5030 Old Testament Theology (3)
    3. 5100 Readings in the Hebrew Old Testament (3)
    4. 5110 Exegesis of the Hebrew Bible (3)
    5. One Old Testament textual course (3)
  13. Systematic Theology:
    1. 5550 Christian Ethics (3)
    2. 5450 Contemporary Christian Thought (3)
    3. One of the following:
      1. 5520 Faith and Reason (3)
      2. 5470 Providence and Suffering (3)
      3. 5410 Theological Hermeneutics (3)
    4. One course in the Historical Theology Area
    5. One course in the Systematic Theology Area
  14. Urban Missions:
    1. 5900 Church Planting (3)
    2. 5920 Urban Ministry (3)
    3. 5940 Missionary Anthropology (3)
    4. 5950 Ethnotheology (3)
    5. One other missions course
  15. (NOTE: One of the two required M.Div practicums should specialize in urban missions.)
  16. Worship Ministry:
    1. 5050 Psalms (3)
    2. 5560 Christian Worship (3)
    3. 5855 Worship Ministry (3)
    4. 5901 Spiritual Leadership (3)
    5. 5904 Congregational Development and Conflict Management (3)
  17. (NOTE: One of the two M.Div. practicums should specialize in worship ministry.)
  18. Youth and Family:
    1. 5221 Family Issues in the New Testament (3)
    2. 5550 Christian Ethics (3)
    3. 5760 Family Development and Parenting (3)
    4. 5851 Youth Ministry (3)
    5. 5857 Family Life Ministry (3)
  19. (NOTE: One of the two required M.Div. practicums should specialize in youth and/or family ministry.)