Program Description

The Doctor of Theology is a 45 semester hour terminal research degree in theological studies. 
The program is designed to assist students who are pursuing advanced theological studies in developing the skills necessary for a ministry of scholarly research, writing and teaching.  Each student’s curriculum is uniquely tailored to coincide with his dissertation topic. The custom design of the curriculum is accomplished through a learning contract between the student and his faculty advisor.

Prerequisite: Candidates for the program must have at least a 90 hour Master of Divinity Degree or equivalent of graduate level theological training from an institution recognized by Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition, candidates must also possess a familiarity with the biblical languages based on having satisfactorily completed a minimum of at least 6 semester hours in both Greek and Hebrew. 

Program Overview:

Some qualified candidates entering the ThD program maybe entitled to receive up to a maximum of fifteen hours of course credit based on extensive life experience in ministry.  The criteria for determining whether a candidate receives any such credit and if so, how much are guided by a number of totally objective factors.  The determination is made by examining the candidate’s Application for Enrollment and the availability of information and documentation requested in the Application.  All candidates entering the program are encouraged to apply for Life Credit.  

	Hours
Life Experience Credit	0-15
COM600 Research Methods	3
General Electives/ Independent Research within the Doctor of Theology Program (See catalog designation of ThD courses, 800 level courses)	*12
Doctoral Dissertation	15
Total Hours in the Program	45
*When Life Experience Credit is not awarded the number of hours of General Electives is increased by an equal amount so that the total number of semester hours equals 45.