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Do you have a doctorate?

Discussion in 'Baptist Colleges & Seminaries' started by SaggyWoman, Jul 5, 2014.

  1. SaggyWoman

    SaggyWoman Active Member

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    Do you have a doctorate?

    Why did you decide to get it?

    Where did you go?
     
  2. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    Yes, I have an earned PhD in Theology from an Ivy League divinity school.

    I felt compelled and called to get a PhD as opposed to a DMin. So, after completing my masters, I went on an did this degree. It was difficult but entirely worth it. I feel it helps me that I can be better prepared to equip the saints and accomplish ministry. Many aspects of my research have little application to the local church, but I've seen where my work has helped.

    Thanks, are you interested in pursuing one?
     
  3. SaggyWoman

    SaggyWoman Active Member

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    I think I am, but I am not really sure. I know it is a lot of work, and I am not sure of the perks at this point.
     
  4. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    My daughter is heading off to the city in the fall for her doctorate but it will be in audiology. :) I never even got my associates degree and have no desire to get it!
     
  5. 12strings

    12strings Active Member

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    I do not have a doctorate, and at this point, It's hard to imagine what might compel me in that direction. I finished my masters in Worship at age 30, three months before our first son was born. I'm now 33 with 2 kids, I've been at my current church for 7 years, and have no desire to enter a doctoral program.

    I have quite a few friends who are in PhD programs right now at SBTS (I'm still pretty close to Louisville), and while they enjoy their work, they also tell me they are crazy busy. My father finished a PhD in New Testament about the time I was born, And he said the same thing. He did say the best thing he got out of it were the study habits and skills.

    Our senior Pastor recently finished a DMin, and while I'm sure he is glad he did it, he doesn't use the material from his final project very much. For him, the seminars on slightly broader topics were the most benificial part.

    SBTS has about 3 Alumni academies per year in which they have a professor speak and lead discussion in his/her area of expertise...and they are free to alumni, so those have been great. Combine that with the money commitment, and the abundance of online free resources, and It just has very little draw.

    I'm sure a doctorate would increase my scholarly expertise in theology or worship, but for where I am now, that's not something I think is holding me back at all.

    So, perks:
    -study skills and habits
    -expert knowledge of a subject
    -coleague interaction in seminars
    -knowledge of resources for future use.
    -possible employment opportunities...but not guaranteed...colleges are hiring less full-time faculty than they used to.
     
    #5 12strings, Jul 6, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 6, 2014
  6. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    Not yet, but I'm working on it -- in behavioral psychology.
    I think with a doctorate I will be better able to influence the profession to recognize the strong aspect of Christ's influence necessary to understand and help the human mind, the same concept the developer of behavioral psychology, Dr. Aaron Beck, began with.
    I'm attending the University of Missouri.
     
  7. Rhetorician

    Rhetorician Administrator
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    Rhetorician Response

    I have been through the process in my 30s and 40s. I did five degrees all from different traditions with a wife and three children.

    You might say I have a little bit of experience.

    Let me know if I can help you.

    rd :thumbsup:
     
  8. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    I did conventional BA in Pastoral Studies and Biblical Languages from an accredited Bible College and BS from University of Wisconsin in history. Then MA from Maranatha Baptist Seminary and into pastorate December 1970.

    Realized that I had "gaps", so did a special certification in Pastoral Counseling (Liberty U).

    About 7 years later I was driven to write needed curriculum (bi-vo church planting does not pay big!!) for our parochial school and earn a doctorate. Opted for Trinity (Newburgh, IN) since they had distance ed which in the mid-70's was just in infancy. Actually used tapes of seminary classes, took quizzes, etc. :)

    1979 got a D.Min in Pastoral/Education and had my dissertation printed (still used in 300 schools)

    I became dean of a small college in 1984 with the understanding I would complete an Ed.D. the next year from Calvary College (then of Letcher, KY; now defunct). My doctoral dissertation from there is also printed and used extensively in home school and church schools.

    Returning to church ministry in 1988 I decided I would never "quit" some sort of formal education. Worked on a Ph.D. with St Alcuin Seminary (catholic but not "roman" catholic), traveled following ministry of St Paul from Antioch to Rome. Fantastic people. Because I shifted back into teaching at Pillsbury Baptist College in 1996 and then faced serious illness in 2000, I never wrote the book.

    But I will.

    NEVER NEVER NEVER QUIT LEARNING. And with me, having a formal program was far better than most who "wander" doing bits and pieces. And I have alphabet soup behind my name. With that and 80 cents I can enjoy a cup of coffee at Hardee's. :)
     
  9. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    The reason I got involved with the start of the BB in 2000 was that I had served four years at Pillsbury College, commuting from Wyoming *842 miles each way. My health ruined, I was bedridden. Seeking an outlet for ministering, I stumbled on Barnabas Kui and Barnabas Halo who were starting this venture from the NYC area.

    So I jumped in to be the "theological guru" and now you know the rest of the story. I will always be grateful for their vision.
     
  10. a SATS prof

    a SATS prof Member

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    I was converted under Tim La Haye in 1959 (at 19 yrs old) and immediately entered Bible college. BUT It sort of took me 45 years to earn a doc in Systematic Theology. I have secondary teaching credentials in Language Arts (Univ of San Diego) and Handicapped Learner Education (Oregon State). Before that , I completed in 6 yrs (took me 1 yr longer as I never finished high school) the BA & THB in Bible. Then in 1969 I launched a 35 yr career in teaching handicapped learners in public school in San Diego & Oregon. During that time I finished the MA in Theology from Point Loma Nazarene and the MDiv Equivalency and ThM from Western Seminary. Having finished work for four grad classroom grad degrees in Bible/Theology consisting of multiple subjects, and then being over 60, I opted in about 2001 to enter the Unizul (South Africa) doc by research only in Systematic Theology.I quit teaching at the end of 2004 and being able to give full time (MORE ACTUALLY) to it, finished the UZ doc in 2005 at 65 yrs old. Immediately I joined Wayne House's teaching site in Salem, OR., of an accredited Wa. based seminary. When the Or site folded in 2006 I joined the Grad faculty of the South African Theological Seminary--I still am "there." In my case, while the four yr doc process at UZ was difficult, the love of Christology (my research area) motivated me towards completion. At 75 yrs of age, my SATS work (and Prevagen) keeps my mind alert. Thank you Jesus for blessing this unfaithful servant.

    Bill Grover
     
    #10 a SATS prof, Jan 2, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2016
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