MASTER OF DIVINITY (MDiv)
Purpose and Intended Students:
The Master of Divinity course of study covers a wide range of areas graduates will put to use fulfilling the day-to-day calling of a pastor or in the life of a missionary crossing cultural lines to share Christ. The degree provides both the resources to draw on and the ability to think through new challenges. A student who completes this degree will be well equipped to face new and complex issues, thinking as a Christian, and knowing where to go to find answers.
Earning Master of Divinity degree ensures students have received a foundation in the Scriptures, in the history and thought of the Christian church, and in areas of ministry skills needed to impact people for Christ and the Gospel. The curriculum is designed to impart a knowledge of the tools and resources that will prove useful in ministry. The Master of Divinity is the required degree for admission to a Doctor of Ministry degree program and is the recommended first theological degree for admission to advanced programs oriented to theological research and teaching.
Objectives:
- To grasp the basic content and structure of the Old and New Testaments of Scripture as well as to understand the broad storyline of the Bible.
- To develop sensitivity to issues and procedures in interpretation of the text so that with a facility in the original languages the student will be able to communicate the message of that Scripture in a way that stays faithful to the intention of the text and is relevant for people today.
- To learn how the church has developed and the Christian gospel has been proclaimed and lived over the last two millennia.
- To gain an awareness of the unique beliefs of the Christian faith and an understanding of the evidence on which that faith is based as well as a sense of how to apply basic biblical principles to life’s ethical issues.
- To deepen Christian character and personal spiritual life, acquire the ability to think as a Christian about life and culture, and use resources to derive answers for developing issues in a pluralistic world.
- To prepare for the work of pastoral care: to reach out to people to attend to their personal needs, to effectively communicate truth, to seek and cast God’s vision for a ministry, to foster healthy Christian community life in a church, to counsel individuals, to train and oversee leaders, and to lead a congregation.
Program Requirements:
Prerequisites(To be completed before beginning seminary studies, if possible. If taken while at Urbana Theological Seminary the credit hours in first year Greek will not count towards the total for the M.Div. degree.) |
6–8 hours |
| BL 501 New Testament Greek 1 | |
| BL 502 New Testament Greek 2 | |
Interdisciplinary |
2 hours |
| GN 500 Intro to Graduate Research and Study | 0 |
| GN 700 Integrative Seminar | 2 |
Biblical Studies |
24 hours |
Biblical Interpretation |
12 hours |
| BI 501 Old Testament Survey | 3 |
| BI 502 New Testament Survey | 3 |
| BI 600 The Bible: Canon and Unity | 3 |
| BI 601 Hermeneutics | 3 |
Biblical Languages(May be completed before beginning seminary studies. If the student has completed the first year of Hebrew before seminary, the student is to add 6 hours of biblical electives.) |
6 hours |
| BL 551 Classical Hebrew 1 | 3 |
| BL 552 Classical Hebrew 2 | 3 |
Biblical Exegesis |
6 hours |
| BI/BL 610 Hebrew Exegetical Study | 3 |
| BI/BL 611 Greek Exegetical Study | 3 |
Christian History and Thought |
24 hours |
Christian History |
9 hours |
| CH 501 History of Christianity 1 | 3 |
| CH 502 History of Christianity 2 | 3 |
| Any 3 hours selected from the following:
CH 601, 603, 605 |
3 |
Christian Thought |
15 hours |
| CT 501 Theology 1 | 3 |
| CT 502 Theology 2 | 3 |
| CT 510 Ethics | 3 |
| CT 520 Apologetics | 3 |
| CT 600 Theology and Contemporary Issues | 3 |
Practical Ministry |
21 hours |
Formation for Ministry |
9 hours |
| FM 501 Ministry and Evangelism in Cultural Context | 3 |
| FM 502 Spiritual Formation and Discipleship | 3 |
| FM 503 Leadership and Vision | 3 |
Practice of Ministry |
12 hours |
| PM 501 Pastoral Ministry: Duties and Issues | 2 |
| PM 502 Worship | 2 |
| PM 503 Biblical Preaching: Theory and Practice | 3 |
| Counseling, selected from one of the following:
PM 505 or PM 506 |
2 |
| PM 554 World Christian Movement: Gateway to Mission | 3 |
Supervised Ministry |
1 hour |
| FE 101 Field Education 1 | 0 |
| FE 102 Field Education 2 | 0 |
| FE 103 Field Education 3 | 0 |
| FE 500 Field Education 4 | ½ |
| FE 501 Field Education 5 | ½ |
Electives |
18 hours |
| As part of these electives the student should enroll in: | |
| Any 3 hours in courses selected from the following:
BI 605, 620, 621, 740 |
3 |
| Any 3 hours in courses selected from the following:
CT 601, 602, 740 |
3 |
Grand Totals: |
|
| 72 hours required courses | |
| 18 hours general electives | |
Total Semester Hours Required |
90 hours |
Graduate Certificate of Christian Studies
Master of Arts in Religion
