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Theology (PDF) GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THEOLOGY welcome to graduate theology Application Information All application materials must be submitted by, Janu- ary 2, 2010. Downloadable forms, application details, hank you for your inquiry regarding the doctoral and instructions for applying online may be found at Tprogram in Theology at Boston College. the GSAS website: www.bc.edu/gsas. For technical as- sistance with the application process, please contact the Boston College offers unusual resources for a Catholic Graduate School at [email protected] or call (617) 552- and ecumenical study of all the areas of theology. Not 3265. only is the Theology Department in itself one of the foremost such departments in the country, but the city of Application requirements include: Boston is one of the richest environments in the world GSAS Application Form. for the study of theology. Abstract of Courses. The Boston Theological Institute (BTI), a consortium of theology faculties primarily in the Boston-Newton-Cam- Transcripts—an original, sealed transcript must be bridge area, has as its constituent members the following sent to the graduate school. institutions: Andover Newton Theological School, the Letters of Recommendation (3)—recommendations Boston College Department of Theology, the Boston Col- must be sent to the graduate school in sealed envelopes. lege School of Theology and Ministry, Boston University Statement of Purpose—please discuss your interest School of Theology, Episcopal Divinity School, Gordon- in the program and your academic goals (approximately Conwell Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, three pages). Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, and St. John’s Seminary. This consortium offers complete cross-reg- Writing Sample—a course paper or equivalent, not to istration in several hundred courses, the use of library exceed 25 pages. facilities in the nine schools, joint seminars and programs, and faculty exchange programs Curriculum Vitae (Resumé)—list of academic and work (www.bostontheological.org). experience. The joint faculty for the Ph.D. program, described in the GRE general scores (domestic and international ap- pages that follow, is particularly rich due to the special plicants). cooperation of interested faculty from the Boston College Department of Theology, Andover Newton Theological TOEFL scores (international students only). School, and the Boston College School of Theology of In order for your GRE scores to reach us by the Ministry. application deadline, you will need to take the examination by the end of November. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to call the Theology Graduate Programs Assistant, at (617) 552- Please contact the Educational Testing Service for 4602. You are most welcome to visit the Boston College information about the computer-based GRE, which campus and learn more about our programs. Please call offers frequent test-taking opportunities and fast score in advance for an appointment. reporting. Be sure to indicate Boston College as a score recipient, and ETS will send your GRE scores directly to Sincerely, the Graduate School. Bruce T. Morrill, S.J. Graduate Program Director the ph.d. program in theology The doctoral program in Theology has as its goal the Students admitted to the Ph.D. Program should have formation of theologians who intellectually excel in the completed the M.Div. or equivalent degree; a master’s church, the academy, and society. It is confessional in degree in religion, theology, or philosophy; or a bachelor’s nature, and envisions theology as “faith seeking program with an exceptionally strong background in understanding.” Accordingly, the program aims at religion, theology, and/or philosophy. nourishing a community of faith, scholarly conversation, and research and teaching centered in the study of Christian life and thought, past and present, in ways that contribute to this goal. It recognizes that creative Areas of Specialization theological discussion and specialized research today Students in the doctoral program focus their studies in require serious and in-depth appropriation of the great one of five major areas—History of Christian Life and philosophical and theological traditions of the past, as Thought, Systematic Theology, Biblical Studies, well as ecumenical, interdisciplinary, inter-religious, and Theological Ethics, or Comparative Theology. The faculty cross-cultural cooperation. in each major area determine requirements regarding course distribution, language requirements (see below), The program is designed and taught by an ecumenical comprehensive examinations, and minors. A minimum joint faculty drawn from the Department, Andover of two years of full-time course work is required of all. Newton Theological School, and Weston Jesuit School of Upon completion of course work, doctoral students Theology, each of which is rooted in and committed to a typically serve as teaching assistants for two years and as theological tradition—the Reformed tradition at Andover teaching fellows for one year. Newton Theological School and the Roman Catholic tradition at Boston College and Weston Jesuit School the history of christian life and thought examines of Theology. The creation of this faculty represents a how different forms of Christian faith, theology and unique degree of Catholic and ecumenical cooperation doctrine, behavior, ritual, and institutional setting came to at the doctoral level, bringing together teachers and manifest themselves over the course of Christian history. students from diversified cultural and religious Students focus on how these various forms of Christian backgrounds. Indeed, one of the intrinsic components of life and thought developed over time by looking not only the program is a call for a wise appropriation of Catholic to their direct social and religious contexts and their un- and/or Protestant theological and doctrinal traditions, as derlying philosophical and spiritual well as critical and constructive dialogue with other presuppositions, but also to the implications of such major religions, with other Christian theological developments for the life of the Church, both immediate positions, and with contemporary cultures. and long-term. The program is rigorous in its expectation that students While students in this area can study such diverse fields master Catholic and/or Protestant theological as history of exegesis, history of education, and traditions and critically probe the foundations of various institutional church history, as well as focus on individual theological positions. Students are expected to master authors, the current faculty in this area have a strong the tools and techniques of research and to organize common interest in spirituality and in the history of and integrate their knowledge so as to make an original theological developments. Their emphasis is on the study contribution to theological discussion. of the past in its “pastness,” although secondarily the contemporary relevance of historical developments may Because the program includes faculty members who be brought out as well. The faculty is interested in are expert in the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish imparting to students a keen awareness of historical traditions, it also offers a context in which the issues method by keeping them abreast of the contemporary raised by religious pluralism can be explored, respon- historiographical debate. sibly and in detail, and in which a Christian comparative theology can be pursued seriously. This area is for scholars whose teaching interests fall In line with the conviction that faith and reason are into a broad range of courses in the history of complementary, the program explores the contributions Christianity, and whose research interests lie within at of philosophical thought, both past and present. It least one subfield of historical Christianity—such as the includes a strong social ethics component, as well as early Church, the medieval Church, the Reformation, offerings in other areas of applied ethics. The counter-reformation, the Enlightenment, modernity, exploration of contemporary ethics is set in a critical, American Christianity, or Jewish history. historical perspective and encourages attention to the global and multicultural character of the Christian systematic theology is the contemporary intellectual community. reflection on the Christian Mysteries as an interrelated whole. The Systematics faculty seeks to develop the comparative theology, like all other areas of Theology, student’s ability to treat theological material has as its ultimate horizon the knowledge of God, the systematically and constructively; that is, according to a transcendent, or the nature of ultimate reality; it aims to method which attends to the coherence and be constructive theology. The practitioner, while rooted interconnectedness of the elements of the Christian in one tradition (in this program, normally Christianity), tradition. The necessary role of historical, dogmatic, and becomes deeply affected by systematic, consistent descriptive theological activity is thereby acknowledged. attention to the details of one or more other religious and theological traditions, thereby informing continuing Our primary concern is the systematic and constructive theological reflection upon his or her own tradition. elucidation of the Christian faith in a contemporary It is this focused attention to the distinctive details of context, and we emphasize the relationships among different traditions
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