Want to be called "Dr." with a Doctor of Ministry Degree?

Unfortunately, I think that "doctoring" the Scriptures is an equal opportunity offense. Many laymen are guilty as are many untrained pastors; so too are under-trained pastors, pastors with excellent educations, Pastors with D.Min./Ph.D./D.Th. etc. It is sad, but an education does not prevent those who would wish to corrupt the Scriptures; in fact, as we have seen from many of the great liberal scholars, it simply gave them many more tools.

 

Anytime someone has authority over another person, it can lead to instances of rebellion. Often times there can be a great deal of aggravation over orders and authority. Certainly, this is no different in the military.

 

Then I have plenty of doctorates to hand out on here. You don't really want a list :laugh:

 

Why can't those with a masters degree be called "Master So&so"??? That is the same logic right? :wavey:

 

How about a married woman who earned a bachelors degree?

 

Bachelorette:laugh:

 

After thinking about this even more, and rereading the blog post, Dr. Burleson couldn't be more wrong if that were his life's purpose since he was in short pants.

Doctor of Ministry degrees are terminal doctorates. They are not "PhD lite" degrees as David Baer opines http://canterbridge.org/2008/09/04/dmin-or-phd-that-is-the-question/ As I said before, D.Mins are like DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) PsyDs (Doctor of Psychology), EdD (Doctor of Education), etc. And, they're like the M.D. degree (Doctor of Medicine), as opposed to those who get a PhD in medicine to do medical research/teaching.

I still have my problems with the way in particular the Big Six do the D.Min projects (some are just so narrow that I hardly see the usefulness). That said, those programs with flexibility can be just as scholarly and yet practical as a PhD dissertation (Gordon Conwell and Beeson come to mind).

Surely Dr. Burelson has better arguments to make than this.

 

Amen to that. I still get chills when someone calls me "Pastor." One of the most humbling yet honoring moments of my life was when someone introduced me to the nurse as their pastor while visiting them in the hospital.

The work is, as Lloyd Jones said, the highest most noble calling on earth. To steal from Spurgeon, why stoop to be a King

 

At one time, in England, it was an insult to call a medical doctor "doctor". The usual term was "mr." They worked hard for a lordship so they could be called "Sir".

Originally, doctor was reserved for academics, not medicine.

Again it was The Reverend Mister so and so...it was a title reserved for bulletin boards and such. We called ministers "pastor" or "vicar" or "bishop" etc.

I always preferred the Plymouth Brethren title, Jim.

Cheers,

Jim

PS, "Doctor! Shucks, I'm not even a nurse yet!

 

To be called Dr, in the med field is one thing, to have a title Dr as a pastor is another
[snipped - off topic]

 

I believe it to be a personal decision, as for me no.

 

Back in the 50's and 60's many men were getting honourary doctorates so they could circumvent the use of Reverend by so many people. DD's were coming out our ears.

Does a man have the right to be called doctor? Certainly he does. That is in the law, at least in Canada.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I'm reminded of a seminar I attended back in the early 1980's at Tennessee Temple University that was conducted by Dr. Lexie Wiggins.

We had some free time and one of the participants asked Dr. Wiggins what an "honorary" doctor's degree was. Dr. Wiggins explained the difference between it and an "earned" degree, but then he asked this participant what prompted him to ask about an "honorary" degree in the first place. I still remember his reply:

"Well, you see, I was at this Bible conference one time. The speakers were "Doctor This," and "Doctor That." There were more doctors there than in a hospital. To be honest with you, I'm not sure I'd trust most of them to put a bandage on my finger!!" :smilewinkgrin:

 

In a rather mind-bending moment about 13 years ago, an IFB church near me who had a Christian school asked if I had an extra robe or some dark choir robes, or if I could call up some Bible college or seminary professors and borrow their caps, gowns, and stoles. Why? The school was awarding honorary doctorates to some people who donated money.

You read me right: A school that awarded a HS diploma, unrecognized by the state, was awarding doctorates to the highest bidders.

 

There are some bible schools doing the same thing with diplomas....And he doesn't have to tell me about his degrees,just open his mouth and I have an idea.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Jesus dealt with those same kind of people too.

Ask yourself, "How many men coming out of theological schools have ever made disciples?" Then they are expected to teach the church how to make disciples, but the theological school has nothing to do with making disciples and has no intention of teaching the prospective pastors because they say that is the job of the church. Imagine an elder in the NT not ever making disciples before he was an elder? How many pastors are there really?