Why?

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Thread title: "Why?"

Answer: "Because!"

That answer is not meant to sound 'flip', but paidagogos is right, here. Any institution can set up any program it deems appropriate. Fortunately, for good or bad, most do follow some sort of "credit hours" for the degrees offer. If Wheaton sees fit to offer two programs that are basically similar in required courses, with the primary differences coming from the "Electives" end of the spectrum, why should that concern you or me? Various M.A., M.A.R., M.A.B.S., Th.B; and M.R.E. degrees can be found ranging all the way from about 30 Credit hours to over 70 credit hours, assuming a bachelor's degree. Likewise, an M.Div can range from some 75 Credits up to over 100. So what? "Caveat Emptor!"

Any institution can actually employ any one, and bestow any degree it sees fit.

Would it surprise you to know that B. H. Carroll, D.D.; never finished his Bachelor's degree, having become a soldier in the Confederate Army, a couple of months short of fulfilling the classroom requirements, but was granted this degree anyway after the close of the American Civil War, by Baylor, and that this was the closest he came to 'earning' any degree, although he was conferred with a D.D. later, and he at some point became a Professor of Theology at Baylor, the head of the Graduate Department of Theology, and later the Founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which under his leadership became the largest Seminary in the world?

Or that John A. Broadus, D.D.; one of the four founding faculty members, and later the President of Southern Baptist Seminary, had only the degrees of M.A. ('earned', Univ. of VA) and a D.D. conferred on him.

Or that Wilbur M. Smith, D.D.; author of Smith's Bible Handbook and also Dictionary never had any Seminary training, per se, and I don't believe he even 'earned' a Bachelor's although he was sorta' fairly well read, having amassed the largest individually owned Christian Library in history, edited the Peloubet's International Sunday School lessons for over thirty-five years, and was to become a professor of Bible at three different fair-to-middlin' schools, namely Moody Bible Institute, a Founding Faculty member of Fuller Seminary, and, then a Professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. And I am talking about a coupla' of pretty well known individuals, and fair sized schools, I believe.

I said all that to say this; "Who has the degree?" is far more important than "What is the degree?" Any degree!

Ed

 

:BangHead:

:tonofbricks:

:BangHead:

Sounds like a reasonable enough of an answer to a different kind of question.