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Religious Degrees = Worthless?
- Thread starter Neo Deist
- Start date
That is certainly one thing, there are tons of worthless degrees people can get by going to the wrong school and they can be just as expensive or more, look at Trump university.
I'm still not really clear on what you mean by "religious degrees," but that doesn't matter with respect to the comment I want to make. Whether it is recognized or not, any and all forms of learning teach various forms of knowledge or skill.
Something I notice a lot of working with college students on the job is that they are terrible at articulating the value of many of their experiences, including education or certain classes and majors. Usually, when they don't see the value in them, it is because the personal values they hold (or more accurately, values they were largely taught by their surrounding culture) are putting blinders on their heads. When their culture tells the story that this particular field is "less valuable" or a "throwaway degree" then we don't examine it more deeply because we're too busy staring down our noses at it. When we don't examine it more deeply, and worse, never participate in that field at all, we never learn to see and articulate its value. The study of religions is definitely on the list of things that are not honored in my culture, and thus we're poor at articulating the value of it. As someone who has now spent 10+ years studying some of this in their free time, I've gotta say I've trouble with that mindset. Hell, it'd be nice if I had some sort of honorary degree to honor the crap ton of work I have put into this, which is at least the equivalent of an MS thesis. As a Pagan, that's not gonna happen, though.
Some are, eg, engineering, chemistry, business.
Some are worth what one gets as a result of study, eg,
picking up a useful language, learning to write well, discipline in accomplishing tasks.
To earn a PhD in calculating the number of angels who dance on the head of a pin
has utterly no value, but one would've at least learned basic math & exposition.
Education is PRICELESS.
It can't be stolen, sold, or get old.
Out of date, of course, but never useless.
I have 2 degrees and might even go back to college to audit classes.
It only costs me my books tho there is no credit given towards a degree.
I care not about another degree.
It's the education I appreciate.
When I read one of their doctorate stuff it actually sounded more like a bible historian with facts and everything. Well you could color me impressed, I wouldn't have thunk it.
At the risk of offending some friends......
A Bible historian ranks right up there with telephone sanitizers & extended warranty salesmen.
On 2nd thought.....not quite.
Wow, you'd say that about the number one best seller of all time!
According to Wikipedia, Quotations From Chairman Mao might have outsold the Bible by over a billion.
But I dare to offend readers of both!
And whomever likes the 3rd place finisher!
Well at least the majority of folk that like the bible may see some value in knowing the facts on the matter.
They & I have an agreement to disagree.
This keeps things civil.
RedDragon94
Love everyone, meditate often
I think... If any group of people need to teach theology it's not the seminary that needs to. The church could do without those honestly.
If you want to see the church find itself again we have got to quit being scared of what other people both inside and outside the church think and teach Bible-based theology. We don't need schools, we need churches to think biblically.
From what I saw it was more like reading a history major with knowledge in social sciences rather than an actual bible scholar.
A lot of denominations require such a degree for certain positions. And a lot of these people can then become good teachers and leaders in their community and help many people spiritually and emotionally. It can perhaps be the most important type of degree and more worthwhile than any worldly degree.
Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
Let me try and clarify a few things...
A Ph.D. or Th.D. in theology is a bonified degree that requires years of work, the master's dissertation, and the doctorate thesis. It requires research, numerous classes to include religious studies, psychology, history, etc. It has the same value as someone who has a doctorate in philosophy. This degree does confer the title of Dr. to a person, and they have every right to use it with their name. However, there is a catch...
There are accredited and non-accredited religious colleges/universities. The non-accredited ones don't necessarily have the same degree requirements as their accredited counterparts. Because of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, religious universities and colleges are given great flexibility in that aspect. The government can't really interfere with these institutions, so when they award someone a degree, even if it is a Th.D. without years of schooling, people just have to look the other way. This is also why many of the accredited universities have done away with the Th.D. title and award Ph.D. instead (such as Harvard). I know of an online university where you can pay $30, write a 500 word thesis, and get a Th.D. in about 1 hour. Because of law loopholes, the government can't do anything about it (right now).
A Doctorate of Divinity degree is normally an honorary degree that holds no value. Religious institutions award these to people that they feel have done good work, or that perform a service for the institution. An example would be someone who was the guest speaker at a religious university graduation. They are often given this honorary degree as a way of saying thank you for doing the commencement address (speech). Billy Graham received several of these, but he was never a true doctor.
Another example is a church or institution that bestows the honorary title of doctor on its clergy, by way of a Doctorate of Divinity. Many priests receive these, as do preachers on the national level that serve mega churches. Once again, the paper is worthless because it is honorary only. However, in an effort to inflate their own egos or to make them appear more "official" to the public, people with this type of degree will often use something like Rev. Dr. John Smith, or John Smith, D.D. It works wonders for selling books to the gullible.
A Ph.D. or Th.D. in theology is a bonified degree that requires years of work, the master's dissertation, and the doctorate thesis. It requires research, numerous classes to include religious studies, psychology, history, etc. It has the same value as someone who has a doctorate in philosophy. This degree does confer the title of Dr. to a person, and they have every right to use it with their name. However, there is a catch...
There are accredited and non-accredited religious colleges/universities. The non-accredited ones don't necessarily have the same degree requirements as their accredited counterparts. Because of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, religious universities and colleges are given great flexibility in that aspect. The government can't really interfere with these institutions, so when they award someone a degree, even if it is a Th.D. without years of schooling, people just have to look the other way. This is also why many of the accredited universities have done away with the Th.D. title and award Ph.D. instead (such as Harvard). I know of an online university where you can pay $30, write a 500 word thesis, and get a Th.D. in about 1 hour. Because of law loopholes, the government can't do anything about it (right now).
A Doctorate of Divinity degree is normally an honorary degree that holds no value. Religious institutions award these to people that they feel have done good work, or that perform a service for the institution. An example would be someone who was the guest speaker at a religious university graduation. They are often given this honorary degree as a way of saying thank you for doing the commencement address (speech). Billy Graham received several of these, but he was never a true doctor.
Another example is a church or institution that bestows the honorary title of doctor on its clergy, by way of a Doctorate of Divinity. Many priests receive these, as do preachers on the national level that serve mega churches. Once again, the paper is worthless because it is honorary only. However, in an effort to inflate their own egos or to make them appear more "official" to the public, people with this type of degree will often use something like Rev. Dr. John Smith, or John Smith, D.D. It works wonders for selling books to the gullible.
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Getting a degree in anything helps show that you can commit to something over the long term and can do academic things like working independently and in groups, and have good enough written communication skills to write a half-decent essay or paper. I suppose adegree in theology is useful in these respects just as any other degree would be.
That being said, I have serious concerns with someone thinking that their degree in theology qualifies them to do social work or counseling.These are separate disciplines with their own degrees for a reason.
Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
Getting back to the universities and theology, if you look at Christian universities, they will all have different curriculum, based on the biased denominational version they represent. At Notre Dame, you will undoubtedly learn about Purgatory. However, at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary it is very doubtful that you will learn about it, as that denomination denies Purgatory. BYU will probably be different from both of these, because it supports the Mormon view.
The point is that you can have three different people, one from each university, who all have a Ph.D. or Th.D. in theology. They all claim to be Christian and study the Bible. Yet, they will not agree on many aspects of theology because of their denominational biases. That is why degrees in theology (and especially divinity/ministry) are often viewed as a joke. Religion is VERY biased.
By contrast, a degree in medicine (such as cardiovascular surgery emphasis) will be almost universal nationwide. There is a standard procedure and protocol that surgeons will follow, regardless of where they are located.
The point is that you can have three different people, one from each university, who all have a Ph.D. or Th.D. in theology. They all claim to be Christian and study the Bible. Yet, they will not agree on many aspects of theology because of their denominational biases. That is why degrees in theology (and especially divinity/ministry) are often viewed as a joke. Religion is VERY biased.
By contrast, a degree in medicine (such as cardiovascular surgery emphasis) will be almost universal nationwide. There is a standard procedure and protocol that surgeons will follow, regardless of where they are located.
Personally, I'm okay with different schools having different takes on theology. I imagine you might also get that with degrees in, say, literature at different schools. As long as a theology PhD only puts themselves forward as an expert on the things they actually studied, there's no issue. It's only when they start making themselves out to be an authority on other religions (or ethics, or social work, or psychology, etc.) that the trouble happens.
Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
That's the problem. People don't like being confined to their respective religion or denomination. If I had a nickel every time someone with a degree said that their religion was the one, true religion and we should all convert to it...
Really? My impression was that usually more education can help people develop a more nuanced or liberal view.