Theology

Ph.D. 神学课程

The doctoral program in theology at Boston College has as its goal the formation of theologians who excel intellectually in the church, the academy, and society. It is confessional in nature and envisions theology as “faith seeking understanding.” Accordingly, the program aims at nourishing a community of faith, 学术交流, research, and teaching centered in the study of Christian life and thought, 过去和现在, 以有助于实现这一目标的方式. It recognizes that creative theological discussion and specialized research today require serious and in-depth appropriation of the great philosophical and theological traditions of the past, 同时也是普世的, 跨学科, 跨宗教, 以及跨文化的努力.

The program is led by an internationally respected ecumenical faculty. Students are encouraged to explore widely and deeply in a variety of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox theological and doctrinal traditions, while also engaging in critical and constructive dialogue with other major religions and cultures.

The program is rigorous in its expectation that students develop a mature grasp of the Christian theological tradition and probe critically the foundations, 可懂度, and relative adequacy of various theological positions. Students are expected to master the tools and techniques of research and to organize and integrate their knowledge in order to make an original contribution to theological discussion. Because the program includes faculty members who are experts in the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, 和犹太传统, it also offers a context in which the issues raised by religious pluralism can be explored, 负责、细致, and in which a Christian comparative theology can be pursued seriously.

成功申请博士学位.D. 程序通常会有一个M.Div., a master’s degree in religion, theology, or philosophy, or an equivalent degree.

专业领域

Students in the doctoral program specialize in one of five major areas: 圣经电子游戏正规平台, 基督教历史, 系统神学, 神学伦理, 或比较神学.

圣经电子游戏正规平台 focuses on the canonical books of the Bible both within their historical and cultural world and in relation to their reception within the Christian 和犹太传统. All students will acquire a thorough competency in both the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament including competency in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. They may learn other ancient languages and literatures as their research requires and must acquire a reading knowledge of German and French. The comprehensive exams will cover the whole Bible, with emphasis on either the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible or the New Testament, and will include a specialized exam in an area of study pertinent to the student’s dissertation. Students will be expected to pass a general examination on the testament that is not their specialty (which counts as their “minor” area).

基督教历史 (HC) area studies past theological reflection on the faith and practice of the Church, especially in early and medieval Christianity. The HC area strives to appreciate these theological expressions both within their immediate historical contexts (social, cultural, institutional) and within the broader trajectories of theological development in the Christian tradition.

系统神学 is the contemporary intellectual reflection on the content of divine revelation as an interrelated whole. The program fosters the capacity to treat theological material systematically, constructively, 和上下文, according to methods that attend to the coherence and interconnectedness of the elements of the Christian tradition, to take responsibility for the tradition’s ongoing development, 并应对不同的文化环境. Special attention is given to the historical development of Christian thought and doctrine, 它的智力能力, its role and significance within different cultural contexts, its contemporary expressions from different theological perspectives, 以及新出现的问题. 

神学伦理 includes the ecumenical study of major Christian ethicists and attends to the Biblical foundations, 哲学的贡献, 社会政治环境, 以及对伦理学的神学解释. The program encompasses the historical development of traditions in Christian ethics, 包括自然法和德性伦理学. It also includes a strong social ethics component as well as offerings in applied ethics. The exploration of contemporary ethics is set in a critical, historical perspective and encourages attention to the global, multicultural, and public character of the Christian community. Interdisciplinary and intersectional work on contemporary ethical problems is also encouraged. Within its Ph.D. 神学伦理学课程, the Boston College Theology Department offers the possibility of a track focused on Catholic Health Care. The purpose of the track is to integrate the comprehensive theological training that characterizes the Ph.D. 神学伦理学课程 with two focused internships that will empower students by providing them with expertise regarding health care practices in Catholic health care facilities (both a long-term care facility and an acute care hospital).

比较神学 involves faith seeking understanding in constructive dialogue with another religious tradition. Students are expected to acquire significant expertise in a religion other than their own, as well as a solid grounding in a particular area of theology (Ethics, 圣经电子游戏正规平台, 历史神学, 或系统神学). Equipped with the methodological tools of the comparative study of religion, as well as a critical self-awareness of theology of religions, students will reflect on a particular theological question or problem in their own religious tradition through constructive engagement with analogous ideas or practices in the other tradition. This will prepare them to teach courses in Christian theology and in their non-Christian religious tradition, as well as in interreligious dialogue and comparative theology more generally. 作为一个次要的电子游戏正规平台领域, 比较神学 may also expand the theological and professional opportunities of students in any other area of the doctoral program. 

语言要求

Each doctoral student must pass examinations in at least two languages. These test the student’s proficiency in reading languages important for his or her research and must be passed before admission to the comprehensive examinations. Students may take either the departmental translation examinations (offered three times a year) or pass (with a grade of B+ or better) the twelve-week summer intensive language courses offered by the Graduate School of the 莫里西文理学院.

Some areas may require more than a minimum of two languages or more advanced proficiency. Knowledge of various ancient languages may also be required, depending on the student’s dissertation topic. Thus, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew may well be required for students working in the early Christian and/or medieval period. Students in 圣经电子游戏正规平台 are expected to demonstrate proficiency in appropriate ancient and modern languages. Students in 比较神学 are expected to acquire at least an intermediate level of proficiency in a language related to the non-Christian religious tradition they are studying.