The Master of Divinity (M.Div.) educates and prepares men for official, ordained ministries of instruction and leadership in the church as pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and teachers. The goal is to furnish students with every tool they will need to bring the Word of God to the part of God's church they serve.

The program is rigorous and thorough, covering exegesis, church history, systematic theology, homiletics, pastoral theology (teaching, leadership, counseling, church order and discipline, and missions), biblical interpretation, and practical theology (human relationships, Christian living, and church administration). We aim to teach M.Div. students to

• Exegete individual passages of Scripture accurately, employing their knowledge of the original languages, historical circumstances, and literary and theological relationships;
• Understand the major issues in faith and life that the Church has confronted throughout its history, and the system of truth revealed in the Scriptures;
• Systematize exegetical, historical, and theological data into a consistent and coherent theology, and explain how that theology applies to personal beliefs and behavior;
• Use homiletical skills to proclaim the Word of God to the congregation biblically, doctrinally, experientially, and practically;
• Show effective pastoral skills in leading worship, teaching youth, exercising leadership and administration, counseling publicly from the pulpit and privately, implementing church order and discipline, and promoting evangelism and missions;
• Respond with discernment to contemporary trends in biblical interpretation and to contemporary and cultural movements;
• Understand human relationships, Christian living, and church administration, thereby assisting him to become a sound, sensitive, and edifying servant of the Word in his future ministry.

The program requires a total of 127 credits, including Greek and Hebrew (105 if sufficient Greek and Hebrew have already been completed), which must be completed in eight years or less. The program's required courses (totaling following 48 credit hours) are as follows:

I. BIBLICAL DIVISION

A. Old Testament

111 Hebrew I (4 credits)

112 Hebrew II (3 credits)

113 Hebrew III (3 credits)

121 Old Testament Exegesis I: Narratives (3 credits)

122 Old Testament Exegesis II: Poets and Prophets (3 credits)

132 Old Testament Introduction (2 credits)

142 Biblical Theology I: Old Testament (2 credits)

151 Hermeneutics (3 credits)

B. New Testament

201 Greek I (3 credits)

202 Greek II (3 credits)

211 Greek III (3 credits)

212 Greek IV (3 credits)

221 New Testament Exegesis I: Gospels and Acts (3 credits)

222 New Testament Exegesis II: Epistles and Revelation (3 credits)

232 New Testament Introduction (2 credits)

241 Biblical Theology II: New Testament (2 credits)

II. THEOLOGICAL DIVISION

A. Historical Theology

311 or 312 Ancient or Medieval Church History (3 credits)

313 Reformation Church History (3 credits)

314 Modern Church History (3 credits)

322 Reformed Theological Research (2 credits)

324 Puritan Theology (3 credits)

B. Systematic Theology

Five of the following seven (411-417, to include 411 and 415):

411 Systematic Theology I: Prolegomena (2 credits)

412 Systematic Theology II: Theology Proper (3 credits)

413 Systematic Theology III: Anthropology (3 credits)

414 Systematic Theology IV: Christology (3 credits)

415 Systematic Theology V: Soteriology (4 credits)

416 Systematic Theology VI: Ecclesiology (3 credits)

417 Systematic Theology VII: Eschatology (3 credits)

421 Introduction to Apologetics (3 credits)

432 Biblical Ethics (3 credits)

441a Theology of the Patristic Creeds (1 credit)

One of the following (441b-441c):

441b Three Forms of Unity (2 credits)

441c Westminster Standards (2 credits)

III. PRACTICAL DIVISION

A. Preaching Department

511 Homiletics I: Sermon Preparation, Construction, & Delivery (3 credits)

512 Homiletics II: Reformed Experiential Preaching (3 credits)

516 Homiletics V: Preaching Christ in the Old Testament (2 credits)

521-526 Practice Preaching (1 credit per semester for 6 semesters)

B. Pastoral Department

611 Foundations & Process of Biblical Counseling (3 credits)

612 Issues in Biblical Counseling (3 credits)

613 Teaching & Youth Ministry (2 credits)

614 The Christian Minister & His Ministry (3 credits)

626 Ministry Practicum I (1 credit)

627 Ministry Practicum II (1 credit)

628 Ministry Practicum III (1 credit)

C. Missions Department

631 Foundations of Reformed Missions (2 credits)

Two additional courses (2 credits each)

IV. MAJOR PAPER

751 Thesis--50 to 75 pages (2 credits)